Cage of Thought
by Vialana
Summary: Kai/Rei :: One year after the world tournament, the world's best beyblade teams are gathering for a celebration in Russia. However, Kai has been having dreams and he starts to realise what his past was really like.
1. Prologue

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Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or it's characters. This is a non-profitable fan fiction made for purely entertaining purposes.

"speaking" ; *emphasis* ; /thoughts/

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//dreams// (should be in italics, if not then //dreams// will signify dreams.)

*** — scene change

AN: Warnings: yaoi! this will be yaoi, pairings will be reiXkai, maxXtakao with others, mostly het. um, there might be some OOC-ness, sorry if that's so. Possible torture and violence also. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know at the beginning of the chapter. This is my first Beyblade fic, so please tell me what you think of it. This takes place one year after the world tournament (i.e., one year after the series) there may be spoilers and possible deviation from the original plot. praise, criticism and even flames are welcome (unless they're about my pairings. if you don't like them or yaoi, then don't read or at least don't flame me for them, they are essential to the plot). Any queries you have I'll answer at my next chapter posting, but I won't have any other AN's unless they're really important. I'll see you at the end. Love, Vialana, Mistress of Night.

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Cage of Thought

Prologue

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//A whirlwind of grey as far as the eyes could see.

As far as he could see.

A child of the grey, of the swirl, of the madness, of the confusion. Who was this child who stood so alone, so alone against the world? What was his secret? What did he hide?

Did I want to know?

Will I accept the truth?

Can I accept the truth?

Or will I bury it again? Hiding it so there will be no more pain?

But will the pain be enough of a deterrent now against the truth?

However, to find the truth, I must find myself. The child needs to be found. So where is he? Where in this whirling grey madness will I find the child, myself, my truth, my life.

Where is Kai?//

"Kai?"

The blue-haired boy opened his crimson eyes to stare at the person who woke him. It was Rei. Kai stared at him for a second, taking in everything about him before opening his eyes completely and sitting up straight.

"We're here," Rei declared, gesturing to the window beside Kai.

Here?

Russia.


	2. Shedding Light On a Winter's Day

AN: ~~flashbacks~~ sorry, forgot to mention that one.

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Chapter One — Shedding light on a Winter's day

He walked familiar streets, passed familiar squares. This was his third time to the city, his second visit back to the place of his childhood.

The bells of a cathedral tolled, bringing back memories of the abbey, of the grey walls, grey like the colour of his dreams, like his memories …

/Stop it!/ he shouted at himself mentally, his internal frustrations not showing on his cool face as he walked through the cold, windy, snow-covered streets. /I'm not here for that./ He focused on where he was walking and soon he stood before a huge stadium.

"Kai? Kai! KAI!" The 16-year-old barely had time to react before a long-haired boy barreled into him. "I can't believe you actually came! This is so cool!" Takao ignored how the older boy tried to disentangle himself and dragged him into the building. "Everyone'll be so excited to see you again! I know Max and Kenny will, they're waiting for us all to show. We're the first ones here, but the All-Stars have shown up too, but nobody else. They're not here yet, but they've arrived in Moscow."

/Yippee, I have to spend hours with psychotic sports freaks,/ Kai thought sarcastically as he was dragged along the hallway. "Hey," he asked as he realised the omission, "hasn't Rei shown up yet?"

"No, not that I know."

"He said he'd probably be here before me, I thought he was going straight here from the train."

Takao stopped and looked at Kai strangely. "You were with Rei? Why didn't you two just come together?"

"I had something to take care of."

~~

Kai wandered the streets and finally came to a stop before a house near the outskirts.

/Why here? Why did I come here? What's so special about this place?/ Kai looked around a bit. It was an ordinary house with a small yard and a huge tree in the middle of it. You could get lost in the branches, even in the dead of winter.

/I have a sudden urge to climb it. Do I know this place?/ Kai looked around to see if anything else spurred his interest. He couldn't see anything that interesting, so he decided to go back to the city, only after he looked back over his shoulder to stare once more at the huge tree.

~~

Kai was jolted out of his memory by Takao dragging him further into the building. He was yammering away again, but Kai didn't hear a word of it, still caught up in his thoughts.

/What is it about that place that drew me there?/ He couldn't get it out of his mind. What drew him to that place? He felt like he should know it somehow, but the memories eluded him, slipping through his fingers like water through a sieve. 

"Kai?" The blue-haired boy glanced at his companion to see worry etched on his features. "You okay man? You seem a bit out of it."

"I'm fine." Kai snarled, some of his former irritation cutting through to snap at Takao. When the other boy flinched slightly, Kai realised what he had done.

Ever since the world tournament last year he'd been working on trying not to be so cold to people, and only recently it had been paying off. It seemed though that he could slip all too easily back into his former cold mask of indifference and anger. Takao didn't deserve that.

"Sorry," Kai murmured to his teammate and brushed past him.

/Woah! Did I just hear Kai apologising to me?/ Takao looked after his captain in amazement. /I guess he's changed since I last saw him. I hope he has, he held too much inside before and that's not healthy for anyone./ Everyone had gone through some changes over the past year, Takao realised as he caught up with Kai again. Most were for the better.

Smiling at Kai, he decided to just lead him to the others in a companionable silence that was all too easy to fall into when around Kai these days. It wasn't awkward anymore, Takao noticed, nor cold, but easy and contented.

He decided he definitely liked this change for the better.

***

"So, I wonder who else will be here today?" Max was bouncing with barely suppressed excitement.

"I'm not sure Maxie." Kenny had picked up Takao's nickname of the blond boy somewhere along the long road of their travels. "Some people might not be able to make it until tomorrow."

"Like Mr. D." Dizzy piped up from her spot on the table nearby, adamant about not being left out of the celebrations and any conversations she could but into.

"And my mum." Max looked a bit sad, but cheered up a bit when he noticed the door opening. "Oh, I wonder if that's the All-Stars. Emily called me earlier and said that they might be over today if they finished unpacking."

And indeed it was as Max predicted. The All-Stars walked through the doors and spotted the two boys near the food table.

"Max, Kenny!" Emily squealed in an uncharacteristic display of delight. But then, she hadn't seen either of them for over a year. She ran up to the son of her team's founder and hugged him tightly. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too Emily," Max laughed and hugged his friends back. "Did mum say when she'd be here?"

"She'll be here tomorrow, if there aren't any major weather delays." Emily smiled at him. "Don't worry Max, she'll be here." Max nodded and turned to greet the rest of the All-Stars, while Emily blushed and lightly hugged a blushing Kenny.

"Maxy-boy!" Michael shook the blond boy's hand with a friendly smile. "Nice to see you."

"You too Michael. Hey Eddy, Steve."

"Max." The two boys clapped Judy's son on the back. "How you been?"

"Not to bad. Yourselves?"

Eddy smiled. "We've been training extra hard."

Michael but in with a grin, "But we also got a cool holiday after the world tournament. So, where's everyone else?" Kenny came over to offer his greetings to the rest of the team and another round of back slaps and handshakes went around before Max could answer.

"Takao's waiting for Rei and Kai to arrive. They were supposed to be here today." Max and Kenny both noticed the slight tightening around the eyes of all the All-Stars at the mention of their captain's name but decided not to comment on it. "We can go get him if you want?"

"Nah, it's cool. We'll wait for him and Rei to arrive." No one commented on the omission of Kai to Michael's statement.

"Well how about some music while we're waiting." Dizzy really disliked being left out.

Kenny rushed over to his laptop. "Sure thing, thanks for the suggestion Dizzy. Sorry for leaving you out."

"Humph," Dizzy snorted. "Just don't do it again."

Kenny and the others laughed at the bit-beast's temperamental attitude and soon music and conversations sprung up.

Kenny and Emily discussed Beyblade technicalities and other smart things with Dizzy piping in occasionally. Eddy and Steve talked a bit while shoveling food into their mouths while Max and Michael laughed at them nearby and talked of inconsequential things.

No one really noticed when the door opened once more and another figure entered the room until he'd reached Michael and Max and cleared his throat to get their attention. Once caught, no one's attention wavered from the haughty redhead standing in the middle of the room.

***

Kai smiled slightly at Takao's antics, feeling a pang familiarity that seemed so right. He'd never admit it, but he had missed the Japanese boy's humorous actions and had missed the boy himself even more. The smile on his face wasn't necessarily only one of amusement at Takao's stupidity.

Kai was once again happy. He'd missed his companions. Takao, Max, Kenny, all of them. He'd missed Rei especially and felt a small twitch of sorrow that he wasn't here right now, but he'd be here soon. 

So Kai decided that he'd enjoy himself as much as possible until everyone was here, and then he'd enjoy himself more.

Having made that promise to himself, Kai walked into the room after Tyson and would have ran up to the other members of his team were it not for something that stopped him in his tracks and drained his smile away.

Upon entering the room, both Kai and Takao noticed that another person besides the All-Stars, Max and Kenny was in the room, having arrived while Takao was greeting Kai.

He turned his icy blue gaze on the two and smiled at them in greeting, like a wolf smirks before attacking his prey.


	3. Silent Night, Raining Night

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Chapter Two — Silent Night, Raining Night

/Man, I am freezing!/ Rei shivered in the extremely cold breeze as he ran toward the airport, anxious to get inside the warmth of the waiting area as much as to greet his former team as they arrived in Moscow.

Sighing in relief as he finally got there, Rei looked at the arrivals times and realised he still had half an hour to wait. He decided to get a hot chocolate and sit down to wait for the White Tigers.

He thawed his frozen hands on the warm cup before taking a small sip of the boiling drink, trying not to wince at the stale taste of machine made hot beverages. He thought of the last time he'd had a hot chocolate. It was probably one of the best tasting ones he'd ever had. And it wasn't just because of the person who'd made it for him.

~~

"Damn, I didn't think it got this cold here." Rei shivered as he stood at the bus terminal, dripping wet and muttering darkly in the rain. Steam rose from his breath as he tried futilely to warm his hands with it. He looked out at the deserted bus terminal and glared at the dark night sky. After being in Japan for so long, Rei was looking forward to a change of scenery when he flew over to China on his way to Moscow, but he was stuck here, hundreds of kilometers away from where he wanted to be at this moment in time. He hadn't even realised he had gotten anything wrong until he got off the bus.

"Just great," he muttered irritably. "Trust me to get the times wrong and find myself being stranded at the bus terminal in a city I didn't even want to go to." Sighing, he picked up his luggage and sorted through it to see if there was anyone he could call.

"Hmm, Takao, Max and Kenny live a bit too far away, and it's really late. I'd hate to bother them like this. Mr. Dickinson probably wouldn't appreciate me calling out of the blue like this to ask for help. And Kai … well, Kai's probably no the best person to ask for help, even though he does live nearby." Rei sighed and flipped to the back of his address book where a list of chain motels and BBA centres resided in case of an emergency.

Rei found one nearby. "Well, this is an emergency I suppose." He smiled wryly despite his predicament and had to laugh at the mess he'd gotten himself into. He picked up his luggage and started to make his way through the city.

/It's good thing I pack light,/ he thought after realising how far away the motel was. He hadn't been training as hard as he should and was beginning to get a bit soft. /It's a good thing I didn't call Kai, or I'd have him berating me for being such a weakling./

Rei was turning another corner when the storm suddenly doubled in ferocity. "Damn," he muttered and started running, not really taking any notice of where he was going. He turned a few more corners and ran through a few alleys before he realised he was now thoroughly lost.

"Why does this happen to me?" he groaned to the near empty street. He wasn't even in the city any more, not really anyway. He was in a more residential area, one with large mansions and older houses. He looked back the way he came and could not see the lights of the city any more.

"Just great, I must have turned completely around and came out near the edge of town. Now I have to go twice as far to reach the motel." 

He was so caught up in his muttering that Rei didn't notice another figure approaching him from a nearby park.

"Rei?"

The neko-jin whirled around at the sound of his name coming from a very familiar voice.

"Kai?"

The blunette nodded and looked at the drenched Chinese boy with confusion showing in his crimson eyes. "Um … what are you doing here?"

Rei smiled sheepishly and blushed faintly. "I … uh … I kinda messed up the times for my bus and accidentally ended up here."

"You're stranded."

"Yeah."

Kai turned and started walking away. Rei stared at him, dismayed at his lack of help, until the older boy called out to him, "Well, are you going to come and accept my hospitality, or stand there in the rain like a drowned kitten?" Rei glared slightly at the comment, but perked up when he realised Kai wasn't just going to leave him there.

Kai seemed to have caught what Rei had been thinking. He glanced at his raven-haired teammate and asked, with suppressed amusement, "Do you really believe I would have left you there?"

Rei laughed sheepishly. "Sorry Kai, I guess I should have known better."

"Why didn't you call when you realised you were stranded here?"

Rei detected the note of hurt in his captain's voice however much he tried to mask it. "I didn't think you would want me disturbing you at this time of night."

"Oh." Kai knew Rei was hiding his real reason and Rei knew that his deliberate omission had hurt the boy, but Rei didn't feel like hurting his captain more by telling him that he didn't want to ask him because he was afraid of him.

They walked in an awkward silence through the drizzle and night darkness until they reached one of the biggest mansions Rei had ever seen. 

"Wow," he breathed upon first viewing it.

Kai walked in, seemingly unimpressed by his house or Rei's comment, but a small smile graced his face when he heard Rei's approval of his house. "Come on in. I'm the only one here right now. Most of the servants have left for a vacation as I had planned on leaving tomorrow and the ones that haven't won't be back here until later."

"Sure." Rei tried not to goggle as he was led through the gigantic hallways and strived not to peer into every room they passed by. Kai led him up to a guest bedroom next to his master room, or the newly made mater room. Voltaire's old room was technically the mansion's mater bedroom, but Kai refused to move into the room his grandfather had previously inhabited. Rei noticed his captain's shiver as he passed by the huge double doors that led to the room and studied Kai more closely.

What he found shocked him to the core.

He could see his captain's emotions.

Rei faltered in his step, causing Kai to look back at him in concern.

Concern? When had Kai ever shown any form of compassion on his face?

Rei could only recall one time: when he was lying on a stretcher after his match with Bryan at the world tournament. Kai's emotions were written all over his face then: concern, fear for Rei's condition, anger at the boy who had caused this, elation at Rei's win, and friendship for the boy lying before him. Rei treasured that brief moment of openness on Kai's face and hoped that it wouldn't be the only time that he would see Kai that open.

It seemed that his wish had been granted.

Rei smiled back at Kai and caught up with him and made his way into the room where he would be spending the night. "Thanks Kai," he said as he dumped his bags on the bed.

"No probs. Did you want something to drink?"

"Sure, I'll be down after I change into something dry."

"Sure." Kai closed the door behind him as he left, leaving Rei to ponder his captain's new behaviour as he changed.

Upon emerging downstairs in something warmer and more comfortable than before, Rei found Kai in the mansion's large kitchen making hot chocolate. Kai offered his guest a small smile before returning his attention to his task. Rei suddenly felt uncomfortable and very ungrateful. Here Kai was doing everything he could to make him welcome in his home and he'd believed the opposite of his captain — no his friend.

"Kai, I'm sorry," he offered with his golden eyes lowered in shame. Kai didn't have to ask what he was talking about. There was another silence where Kai poured their drinks.

He slid one over to where Rei was sitting and smiled at him in amusement. "Call next time," he advised and sipped his drink. Rei looked up at him and returned the smile, knowing everything was forgiven. 

Kai didn't really need words around him, he had become attuned to Kai's ways in the time they had traveled together. Rei was probably the only one of the Bladebreakers to know Kai and his moods well enough to know what he wanted or what he was feeling even when he'd said nothing. He'd always felt slightly honoured that Kai had let him know that much about him. He knew now that it wasn't that Kai let him, but he understood him like the others couldn't and Kai respected that about him, which in turn led to Kai learning more about him without him saying anything to the older boy. It was a silent friendship that they had built, neither boy needed to fill the void with mindless chatter.

They shared a companionable silence that was familiar and comforting to them both. Rei supposed that this is what a real friendship felt like, one that needed no words to express feelings and thoughts. And he thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of it.

He sipped his chocolate and smiled at the taste. He'd never had such a perfectly made hot chocolate before. He smiled at Kai again, thanking him for knowing that he liked more sugar than was normal for most people and taking this into account when making his drink.

The rest of the night passed much the same way, neither needing to talk to express the gratefulness they felt for each others company.

~~

Rei smiled as he finished the foul tasting chocolate. The change in Kai's attitude and behaviour had continued the next day when they flew over to China then caught a train to Moscow (all courtesy of Kai's private jet and almost unlimited funds). Rei discovered that he had never had such an enjoyable time travelling as he had with Kai that time. He hoped that he could spend more time alone with his captain some time so he could enjoy that feeling again.

A call sounded over the intercom. The plane he'd been waiting for had arrived.

Sure enough, a few minutes later he could hear Mariah's voice carrying through the airport. As usual she was hyped up and loud. Kevin was the first one to appear. He looked to have been running to get away from Mariah and her loud antics. He spotted Rei and couldn't control himself.

"Rei!" He ran over and grabbed the golden eyed boy in a giant embrace. At his yell, Gary came through and spotted his old friend and lumbered over himself to pick both Rei and Kevin up to capture them in a huge bear hug that took their breath away.

"Urgh! Gary, let me go!" Kevin tried to squirm out of his friend's grip but found he couldn't.

"Sorry." Gary let them both down so that Mariah could run up to her old love and embrace him.

"Oh, Rei, we've missed you so much." She cried on his shoulder.

Rei smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I missed you all too."

"That's good to hear." Mariah let go of Rei to let Lee come through and shake Rei's hand. "It's good to see you my brother." Rei smiled and Lee grabbed him in a hug.

"You too Lee." Rei smiled at all of them. "This is so cool all of us seeing each other again. I'm sure the guys can't wait either."

"Let's get going then," Lee suggested. "I know I wouldn't mind seeing everyone again."

"Except Kai," Mariah muttered under her breath, but both Rei and Lee caught her comment.

"Mariah!" They both chided her. "That wasn't nice," Lee admonished her.

"Yeah, Kai's not that bad any more." Rei tried to convince her, but she would have none of it.

"I'll believe that when I see it." She walked out to call them a taxi. Kevin shrugged as if to say 'she hasn't changed a bit' and followed her out with Gary waddling behind.

"Don't mind her," Lee told the frustrated Rei. "She's still a bit sore about what happened last year."

"Yeah, well things have changed, and besides there were circumstances that —"

"Nothing will change her mind I fear. Just ignore it and enjoy yourself, after all, all our friends are going to be here. Don't let a silly thing like this spoil our fun." Lee smiled invitingly and Rei laughed.

"You always did know how to cheer me up Lee." Rei walked out to where Mariah and the others had disappeared.

"I know. How did you ever manage without me?"

Rei laughed again. "You've met Takao, you tell me."

Lee laughed. "Now there's a boy who can get a laugh out of any situation."

"Almost any." Rei's face took on a slightly melancholy expression and Lee knew he was thinking on Mariah's words and the situation they had stemmed from. Lee decided not to say anything about it. Instead, for the entire ride over to the stadium he avoided the subject and only talked of things about home that he knew Rei would like to hear. Eventually, the merriment was back to the way it was when the White Tigers first arrived.

They got out and made their way into the stadium, joking and laughing and talking of various things. Rei didn't quite know where to go, which had the White Tigers laughing at him while he tried to find out where to go. Rei finally caught sight of what appeared to be Kai and Takao some way ahead of them. He tried calling out to them, but they couldn't hear, so he gestured for the White Tigers to follow him while he tried to catch up with them.

Rei almost lost them around a corner, but realised they had walked into a room in the hallway. He gestured for his friends to hurry and walked in after them.

"Takao, Kai, didn't you hear me calling?" Rei smiled as he berated them, but his smile faded as he noticed why everyone was staring at something. Lee, Mariah, Gary and Kevin rushed in and stopped, also staring at the figure who obviously enjoyed the attention he was getting.

Re stepped forward and was the first to speak to the figure.

"Tala?"


	4. The Life of the Party

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Chapter Three — The life of the Party

"I invited him." There were glares sent Takao's way which he shrugged off. "Sorry, guess I forgot to mention it."

"You think?" Kai asked sarcastically. He brushed past Takao with an exasperated shake of his head and made his way over to Max and Kenny after giving Tala a pleasant nod of greeting. The redhead was obviously used to such a greeting, for he returned it then turned to Rei, who still approached.

The neko-jin smiled and held out his hand. "Nice to see you again Tala."

Tala smirked in amusement but shook the proffered hand. "Same to you Rei." After this awkward moment, conversations sprung up again. A few people eyed Tala warily but dismissed him soon after as Takao sprung on top of him in his usual enthusiastic display of affection.

"Tala! I'm so glad you could make it!" Tala's face flashed with irritation and a quick splash of horror was mingled in as he tried to get the excited boy off him.

"Takao," Max came over and scolded him. "Is that any way to treat your guest."

Takao removed Tala from his choke hold and stuck his tongue out at Max. "You're just jealous 'cause you didn't get a hug like that."

Max laughed. "That's because I came over to Russia with you."

"Right, just another excuse Maxie. You know you're jealous."

"Yeah right, you just can't see the truth, even if it is right in front of you."

"Jealous."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Uh, guys, this isn't the best time." Kenny decided to break up the playful argument before it got out of hand.

"Oh," Takao groaned in disappointment. "But Chief, we were just getting started."

"Exactly, and it's too early to have one of your and Max's fights." Kenny held up his hand to stop any protests from the two and they pouted, which drew a laugh from everyone nearby. He then smiled and held out his hand to Kai. "So how are you Kai? It's been a while."

Kai smiled and took his hand. "It has. And I've been very well thank you Chief." Kai's pleasant and polite response seemed to shock everyone nearby save for Rei, and Takao, who was still a bit surprised at Kai's new behaviour. Rei had almost a week to get to know the new Kai a bit better in his house, on the plane and on the train.

"Wow Kai, have you been taking lessons on how to be human?" Takao joked. Max Kenny and Rei all winced, ready for the ice Kai glare or the deadly calm sound of Kai's voice as he delivered a deadly tirade of insults on Takao.

"Why yes Takao," Kai replied calmly. "I'm surprised you knew. They were on at the same time as your class on how to get up before noon and eating like a human instead of a horse." He grinned at the longhaired boy and clapped Max on the shoulder. "It's good to see you Max," he said as greeting, then walked away from his team to the food table.

Rei was the first to react by bursting out laughing. Max was soon to follow with a startled chuckle at both Kai's words and Takao's expression. Kenny smiled and tried to wake Takao from his shock by waving his hand in front of the shocked boy's face.

"Did ... did Kai just make a joke?" Takao asked after regaining his voice. This set Rei off into a fresh peal of laughter and he fell onto the floor holding his stomach and leaking tears from the corners of his eyes. Max wasn't much better. He was holding onto the back of a chair for support.

"You ... you should ... have seen ... your face." Max choked out between laughs. Then he slipped and fell onto the floor beside Rei, who had tried to get up, but started laughing again when Max fell over.

"You can you know," Dizzy said. "I took a picture of it." Kenny looked at the screen of his computer and started laughing. A few others peered around the screen, trying to find out what was so funny. On seeing the picture of Takao's face they too burst out laughing.

"It's not that funny," Takao huffed, annoyed that he was the but of a joke again. This was worse than the other times though — this time he was the butt of *Kai's* joke. /I suppose that one time won't matter, but if it happens again, I'll have to do something./ Takao glanced over at his captain and hid a smile. He was starting to like the new Kai.

***

After the greetings the party continued.

As the only girls there, Mariah and Emily stuck together. Their fierce rivalry from last year had given way after Emily's defeat by Kai at the World Tournament to form a strong friendship between the two. They had kept in contact with each other since then and renewed it by talking together throughout the party. Rei was with the other White Tigers, catching up with them and laughing at various anecdotes told by Lee and Kevin. Gary was also with them, but was more concerned with food, like Tyson. Eventually the two of them hung out at the table and didn't really talk so much as stuff their faces. Max and Kenny were with Michael, Eddy and Steve, chatting about various things, Beyblading, other sports, Max's mother, and occasionally a few more scientific techniques developed by the All-Stars, mostly for Kenny's benefit. The spectacled boy himself looked rather lost without Emily to talk to about stuff he liked, but wasn't particularly dissatisfied with the company he was keeping. Max, as always, was cheery and smiling, which would normally get on a person's nerves, but was a welcome relief to others who hadn't seen too much cheer.

Kai counted himself among those.

What was it about those four people that made him feel so warm? What was it he felt?

Friendship?

He'd never had friendship in his life before, maybe that's why he felt so different. He knew that he'd started to act rather strangely lately, but it was all because of this feeling he'd had.

It was also because of the dreams.

Kai shivered in the warm air of the room.

Only one person took notice of this.

He smirked and walked over to the blue-haired captain of the Bladebreakers. The crimson eyed boy looked up at his approach and looked at him with that familiar cool gaze. /Guess he hasn't changed as much as he appears. Gods, how gullible can they be?/

"Tala," Kai greeted him.

"Kai." Tala smirked at him. "I love the act you've got going."

"It's not an act."

"You just keep trying to convince yourself that. I know you better. No one else seems to have spotted it yet. Not even Rei."

"I don't know what you're talking about Tala." Kai's eyes held a shadow of tension, and Tala's smirk widened. /So, I was right, he is hiding something./

"Whatever," he replied, nonchalantly. Kai looked at him suspiciously. Why was he giving up so easily? "So, how have you been for the past year?"

Kai looked at him suspiciously still, but decided to be polite and answer. "I've been a lot better without Voltaire."

Tala froze at the mention of Biovolt's owner, and the man who had previously controlled his life. What happened next had Kai shocked. Tala smiled and looked at him with warm amusement in his eyes. "I'm sure you would have been. Everything's been disbanded now. Biovolt I mean. Ian and Spencer have gone back to their families and Bryan is staying with a nearby family." Tala noticed Kai's look. "We're all getting a bit of psychiatric help."

"What about you?"

Tala looked at Kai with a smile, but his eyes were wary and cold. Kai was taken aback. What did he say to spark this reaction in him? "You actually care about what happened to me?"

"Yes, I do. I was a teammate of yours for a while. And we grew up together."

Tala snorted and looked away. He didn't bother to hide his anger from showing on his face. "Well I don't particularly want you to care."

Kai was getting annoyed. "Look Tala, I'm trying to be nice. What's your problem?"

Tala whirled around to face him again. "You're my problem Kai. Just back off. If you don't want to fix your problems, then at least have the decency to admit there are problems. Things don't go away just by ignoring them."

"What the hell are you talking about Tala?" Neither of the Russians had noticed that people were looking toward their heated discussion.

"Don't play with me Kai. When you're ready to fix what you've broken then I'll be willing to talk. Until them, I'd rather not be anywhere near you." With that, Tala turned away and walked out of the room, leaving the others in the room either staring at the door or at Kai. He was standing there staring after Tala with an emotionless expression on his countenance that conveyed nothing of how he felt but only a vague sense of confusion and distress.


	5. Who Do You Love?

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Chapter Four — Who do you love?

Kai didn't say a word after his encounter with Tala. He stood leaning against a wall with his cold mask on once more. To the others, he appeared to be sulking slightly, to his teammates, he was annoyed and to Rei …

/Upset? Why would Kai be upset?/ Rei watched his captain and friend out of the corner of his eye while trying also to pay attention to something Mariah was saying. The other White Tigers were laughing, but when they noticed that Rei was not even smiling Mariah poked him worriedly. He turned his attention back to her and blinked.

"Sorry, Mariah, I zoned out a bit there."

The pink-haired girl looked over at Kai then back to Rei with a stony expression. "If you're so worried about him, why don't you go over there and talk to him instead of pretending you want to be here with us."

"Mariah, that's enough!" Lee growled at her, startling everyone. "Why can't you just leave it alone?"

"You expect me to pretend like there's nothing wrong, Lee? Pretend like I like him?"

"Yes, Mariah. I need you to respect the peace we have right now. Just let everything go for a night and enjoy being with your friends and teammates. Can you do that for me? Please?"

Mariah glared at him then sighed. "Sure. I should have thought of that earlier Lee. But you still shouldn't talk that way to me, even if you are —" Mariah's eyes widened and she cut off, clapping a hand to her mouth and glancing guiltily at Rei. Lee seemed to realise what she was going to say and blushed slightly and cleared his throat, he also avoided Rei's curious glance guiltily. Kevin and Gary turned their attention to the food to avoid being questioned.

Rei grew annoyed. "What's so bad that you have to keep something a secret from me?"

Lee looked towards Rei, but still couldn't meet Rei's eyes. "Well, it's not really a bad thing, but … uh … I wasn't sure how you'd take it."

"Take what?"

Mariah let her hands fall and she walked over to stand beside Lee. She held his hand in her own then looked up at Rei, happiness and slight wariness warring in her eyes. "We're betrothed, Rei."

Rei stared at his two oldest friends for the longest moment before breaking into a huge grin. "This is so great! You guys are really betrothed!" He let out a whoop that got everyone's attention then grabbed them in a huge hug. "I can't believe it, your getting married!"

Mariah and Lee looked shocked to say the least.

"You mean, you're all right with this?" Lee asked when Rei let go of them, looking at Rei intently.

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?" Rei was still grinning.

Mariah smiled and shook her head. "No reason, I guess, I just thought … well never mind, it was probably just an infatuation."

Rei looked a bit confused then shook it off when Mariah smiled at him again. "Wow, I can't believe it. We've got to celebrate and tell everyone!" Rei looked around and noticed, somewhat sheepishly, that everyone was looking at them and quite obviously already knew about the betrothal from Rei's exclamations. He laughed bashfully and scratched at the back of his head in a strange likeness of Takao. "Guess they figured it out all ready."

Everyone nearby laughed and moved in to congratulate the newly promised couple and the merriment rose quite a few levels.

Only one person didn't really join in one the fun, preferring to stand back and watch as events and emotions uncoiled with his stony crimson gaze steadily fixed on one figure.

***

"So you're okay with this?"

Rei smiled at his old friend. "Of course. How many times do I have to answer that question?"

Lee smiled. "As many times as I feel insecure." Lee looked over to where his pink betrothed was standing talking animatedly to Emily, Max and Kenny about the events of the past year. "Are you sure —"

"Lee, I'd be quiet if I were you." Rei sighed. "I think it was a childish infatuation, more on her part than mine. You saw that didn't you, and that's probably another reason why you felt so betrayed by me when I left. You always seemed to care more for her and she never saw that."

"She finally did." Lee's smile dissipated slightly. "Rei, my jealousy of you wore off a long time ago."

"I know, I'm just talking about how things were before. Mariah deserves to be with someone who loves her as much as you."

"And she wouldn't have had that with you?"

Rei looked down. "You love her in more ways than I ever could." He looked back up and smiled at Lee. "I'm really happy for you both. You deserve each other more than anyone I know."

Lee grinned, finally able to accept that Rei held no grudge against him. "Thank you, brother."

***

Leaning against a wall, eyes half-closed, Kai watched the scenes before him with apparent little interest.

It was in fact the opposite.

He took note of every vocal nuance and gesture in each conversation, storing away the information for later use. It was a habit of training he had picked up at the abbey. One of the more useful things he'd learned there.

Shuddering slightly, Kai turned his mind away from that train of thought and back to the original topic of his thoughts.

Rei.

Everyone thought they knew him, that they could read him, his emotions. To them Rei never hid anything.

But to someone who hid things himself, it was another story.

Kai could see Rei's distress, though obviously no one else did. They were completely oblivious to the inner turmoil of the one they considered a friend.

And that really bugged Kai.

Soon, it grew too much and Kai had to turn away.

Why couldn't they see it? Why couldn't they see how hurt and confused he was? Why couldn't they see what they were doing to him? Why was he staying there with them and letting them do this to him? Why couldn't he escape? Why was no one helping him?

Kai shook himself, his eyes slightly wide.

/What was that? Those were my memories. What were they? What happened to me? And why did Rei trigger them?/ Kai stared at the tiger once again with sad eyes. /Why does his pain affect me so much?/ Kai glared and turned away and exited the room.

/What the hell is going on with me?/

***

There wasn't much of a garden here, just a bunch of slowly dying plants. Still, it was peaceful and empty, though cold and dark. Kai couldn't help but feel at home while at the same time feel a desire for something more.

His breath steamed in the cold air, but he didn't notice, he was too busy thinking. Thinking about Tala and his words, thinking about himself and his past and most of all, thinking about …

Rei?

Kai looked up.

Sure enough, there was Rei exiting the huge warm and well-lit room inside the stadium. He looked as though he was freezing, but it didn't seem to matter. He wandered away from the door, perhaps looking for something, perhaps just thinking on something.

It broke Kai's heart.

The stoic blue-haired captain did care, really, he did, he just never showed it, he never thought it was necessary. He always thought it was a weakness. That was what he was taught to think, what he was trained to think at the abbey, at that screwed up torture asylum.

Screw the training.

"Rei?"

The neko-jin whirled around, golden eyes wide with shock and a hint of fear. Kai noticed that and more. He noticed the tear stains on his friend's cheeks, the redness in those golden orbs and the hint of pain hidden behind the shock.

"Kai? What are you doing out here?"

"Getting away from everything so I can think."

"Oh." Rei lowered his head and started to move away. "I'll get out of your way then." He was halted by Kai's light touch to his arm.

"Rei, you were one of the things I was pondering." Rei looked up at him in surprise. Kai looked at him in concern. "What's wrong?"

Rei was almost sure he couldn't be more shocked than right at that moment. Kai, his distant ice-cold captain, was concerned, about him. He was starting to melt a bit. And because Rei could see the ice melting and true feelings and care shining though, he broke down.

"Kai, I can't … I can't keep it up, I can't keep lying to them."

"Who?" Kai needn't have asked. The source of his teammate's pain was obvious. "You still love her."

Rei cried harder. Kai took the sobbing boy in his arms and lead him deeper into the barren garden to a small frozen water feature and a cold stone bench. Kai sat down and pulled Rei with him.

"Why don't you tell them?"

"Because it would be a lie."

Kai looked sharply at the quiet boy by his side. Rei was still crying, but he looked guilty now. "What do you mean?"

"It would be so much easier to tell them that I still love her — Lee thought that I did and so did Mariah, but I told them the truth, I don't love her any more and right now, I'm not sure if I ever did."

"Rei … what —"

"Kai, why am I so strange? Why is this happening? Why don't I love her? Can I just throw her away so easily, as if she meant nothing?" Rei curled up into Kai slightly and whispered the last part with his face turned away and tears choking his voice. "Am I a bad person for being like this?"

Kai closed his eyes hearing the pain and hurt in his friend's voice. "Rei, you're not a bad person."

"You wouldn't say that if you knew." It sounded almost like a threat.

"Knew what?" Kai was worried, this was very strange behaviour for Rei.

"Knew the truth."

"Why don't you tell me?" This was the wrong thing to say.

Rei freaked out. "No, I can't I can't tell you, you can never know!" Rei struggled to get away from Kai, but the older boy held onto the frantic neko-jin and pulled him closer. Rei started sobbing and hyperventilating. "No, let me go! I can't, you can't know, you'll leave, you'll leave me and I'll be alone and everyone will hate me and you'll be gone and I can't. I can't have you hate me, Kai." Rei gave in and clung to Kai's shirt. "Please Kai, don't leave me, don't hate me. I'm sorry."

Kai's crimson eyes were open wide. This was *Rei* he was holding, trying to calm down. Rei wasn't like this, he was strong and confidant, so what could have made him like this? What was he so afraid of telling people? "Rei, I'll never hate you, but I can only help if you let me. So will you?"

"Do you promise you won't hate me?" Rei asked with a small voice.

"I do. Why are you so afraid?"

"I was supposed to love her, she wanted me to, everyone did. But I couldn't. Am I a bad person? Is it wrong to feel like this?" Rei started to cry again. 

Kai thought he was starting to understand. "Rei, it isn't wrong to not love someone, just as it isn't wrong to love someone. You can't chose who you love, and what you chose can never be wrong."

"But they all think it's wrong. It hurts Kai, because I can't love them the way I want, but I can't love the way they want." Tears ran down his cheeks. "So I can't love at all."

Kai rocked the sobbing boy gently in his arms and tried to soothe him, patting his hair, but not saying a word, letting Rei cry and let everything out.

/He must have been holding all this in for such a long time, and tonight must have been to much for him./ Kai looked down at the raven head leaning on his chest. /Can't anyone see what's wrong? Can't they hear him crying out?/

"Kai?" Rei's voice was quiet, as if he were afraid of Kai's reaction to everything that happened.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think I'm weak?"

"No. It takes a lot of strength to tell someone what you did."

"Thank you." Rei seemed comforted, but he didn't move from his perch leaning against Kai. "Kai?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for dumping this all on you, but I am grateful for all you said."

"No problem. Taking care of my team is a captain's job." Rei stiffened slightly. /Is that all he thinks of me? As a teammate?/

Kai noticed Rei's sudden distance. "Rei, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah?"

"Do … do you consider me a friend?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation or change in tone, just complete honesty.

"Then you don't have to worry about thanking me or saying sorry any more, because you can always come to me if you want." Kai smiled at Rei and the golden-eyed boy seemed to glow with happiness.

"Sure. So Kai, who do you love?"

Kai smiled mysteriously and just looked out into the distance. "Someone who I already held close to my heart, but didn't realise it. Someone who others might not approve of, but someone I would do anything for."

Rei nodded, understanding all too well the lengths that someone would go to for love.

He snuggled in closer to Kai, sharing the older boy's warmth and sat with him in a companionable silence, feeling much better than he had knowing that there was someone he could turn to now if things got tough.


	6. The Nightmare of Memories

****

Chapter Five — The Nightmare of Memories

Rei woke up feeling a lot better than he had for a long time. Not only did he feel like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, he also had an unusual and very comfortably warm feeling around his stomach. He sighed in contentment and opened his eyes slightly, looking down towards the source of the warm feeling.

There was a pair of arms wrapped around his torso.

Rei looked around and saw Kai sleeping peacefully against his back, a slight smile playing about his features. Rei's eyes softened at the sight and he grinned. Their blue-haired captain looked so different when he let his guard down. Before, even in sleep, he never did that.

The raven-haired blader looked then at his clock. 4 am. Too early even for Kai to rise. So Rei snuggled back into Kai and drifted back off, his mind filled with warm thoughts of his captain.

***

Kai's dreams on the other hand were anything but warm and peaceful, despite how he looked to Rei.

__

//The cold grey landscape of his dreams caught him again as it had before. The whirling sensations would not leave him alone and disorientation engulfed him completely. Once again he came to a rest in the shifting mass of emptiness and once again he saw the child.

The child of the grey.

The child of innocence stripped.

Is that me? The words echoes around the cavernous landscape returning to him and distorting to say 'Is that him?'

Him?

A sudden image of a small red-haired ice-blue eyed child filled his mind. He was tied down and beaten before his eyes. He cried out for them to stop, but the beater did not comply. Punishment. That was the only word he knew for this, but something else bloomed in his mind.

Betrayal?

Why would this child before him feel betrayed?

Why did his eyes shed tears with mine as though I were the betrayer?

'You are.'//

Kai flinched violently and came awake, the words of his dreams still echoing around his head.

"Tala," he whispered.

Kai tried to raise a hand to his head, but found that his arms were occupied with something else. He looked over and froze.

Rei was snuggled closely to him, his face only inches away from Kai's own. Kai tried to remember what happened last night as his breathing quickened at the sight of the sleeping raven beauty.

Rei had been crying, he was upset about something. They were in the gardens and Rei had started to doze off in his arms when he'd finally calmed down. Kai was feeling pretty tired himself and managed to keep Rei awake long enough so that they could get back to the hotel they were staying at.

Luckily, few people had still been at the party, considering the late hour. Only Max, Takao and Kenny were left, and they were staring to head out also. They had booked a room at a different hotel, so they all parted ways at the front of the stadium and walked into the night.

Kai thought he'd seen a glimpse of red and white when leaving, but dismissed it when he realised Rei was falling asleep again.

They managed to make their way over to the hotel without trouble and got up to the room they'd decided to book together that morning before going to the party at the Beystadium. Once reaching the room, they had both collapsed on the bed and had fallen asleep almost immediately, barely having wit enough to pull covers over themselves.

/Which is probably why we're still on top of an unmade, though rather rumpled, bed, huddled up close to each other./ Kai just thanked the heavens that this hotel had heating, other wise they would have frozen, body heat or not.

Rei stirred slightly and drew Kai closer as the older boy tried to pull away, but Kai managed to gently break his grip so that the boy would continue sleeping, then draped his long coat over Rei, to keep him warm.

Then he went to go have a shower.

***

Rei frowned suddenly at the loss of warmth and started to stir more fretfully. He shivered slightly and awoke. After opening his eyes it took him a few minutes of sleepy thoughts to realise where he was again. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, unheeding of the warm coat that fell of him as he moved, and got off the bed and walked over to the other door.

He didn't notice the light shining under the door, or the slight wisps of steam that rose from under it.

He wasn't quite ready to meet the sight of an almost naked Kai brushing his still-wet hair in front of a slightly steamed up mirror.

Rei's face flushed and his eyes opened wide in realisation of what he was seeing. As Kai turned that calm crimson gaze to meet his nervously embarrassed one, he managed to stutter a few words.

"K-Kai, I … I didn't mean … uh … I … uh …"

Kai merely continued to look at the fed-faced Rei as he stumbled his way out of his previous sleep-fuddled state. He placed his brush back down on the vanity and walked past Rei and back into the bedroom.

"I'm done, you can have the bathroom now."

Rei didn't move for a while. His face was still red and his breathing uneven. Even after the door closed behind Kai, he still couldn't get the image of Kai standing in front of the mirror with nothing but a towel around his waist.

Rei shook himself out of his thoughts and turned on the shower. He undressed and got in, unbinding his hair as he did so.

He was still thinking about Kai. About that gorgeously sculpted body and his beautiful, yet distant face. About those deep eyes that hid so much, yet sparkled with the most unbelievable intensity when he let his emotions free. About how caring Kai could truly be, despite his reluctance to get close to people. About how warm he felt when he had wrapped his arms around Rei.

It wasn't until after Rei had finished showering and pondering on the beautiful mystery that is Kai that he realised there was something a bit strange about how Kai looked when Rei walked in on him before.

The blue triangular marks on his face had still been there even after the shower.

***

Rei peeked out nervously. In his sleepy mindset earlier, Rei had forgotten to take fresh clothes into the bathroom with him. 

Kai was sitting, fully dressed now, on the bed with his arms wrapped around one knee brought up to his chest. He leaned his chin on his knee and was staring out the large window into the light snowfall. He looked so peaceful and melancholy and Rei had a sudden desire to know what was going on inside his mind at that moment.

The moment of peace was disturbed as Kai turned to look at him, sensing that someone was staring at him. "Are you done?"

"Yeah." Rei opened the door fully and walked out, trying to appear nonchalant about walking around in a towel in front of Kai. /Thank gods I have such long hair,/ he thought as he walking, noting that most of his raven locks covered his back and some curled over his chest. Rei had no idea that this image was probably more alluring than if he had put his hair up.

"Good." Kai was trying not to stare as Rei moved gracefully towards his bags. "I have to brush my teeth." He got up and walked over to the bathroom again. He stopped and turned around to look at Rei again.

"Oh, Max called. There's another gathering today at lunch."

"Right." Rei didn't turn around for fear that he was blushing. Kai continued to stare at him for a little longer then entered the bathroom once again.

Rei let out a breath as he heard the door closed. /I wonder if that's going to happen a lot./ He pulled out his clothes. /Not that I minded the sight of Kai in a towel, but I rather prefer not to be in such embarrassing situations./

***

When Kai cautiously entered the main room once again, Rei was sitting on the ground, already starting to rewrap his hair.

"Why don't you ever leave it out?"

Rei looked up, surprised at Kai's question.

"In this weather it'd get too wind blown. The tangles would be enough to give me nightmares." Rei grinned, continuing with his task.

Kai returned the small smile. "I didn't mean now, but why do you always keep it up for every occasion? You could let it loose sometimes."

Rei shrugged. "I don't know why, it just feels more natural to have it wrapped up." He looked closely at Kai. "I suppose it's like your marks, it helps define a part of who I am."

Kai froze, those innocent ignorant words sending a chill down his spine. Rei had no idea what he was talking about yet his description was so accurate that Kai wondered suddenly if he'd let too much out as he tried to loosen up.

Rei finished doing his hair and got up, aware that his words had upset Kai somehow. "Kai?" he walked over to his friend. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Kai looked at Rei with those familiar cold eyes and Rei took a mental step back.

/What have I done? He's back to what he was before./ Rei studied Kai with a hurt expression. /Why won't he let me know more about him?/ Rei decided to take a chance.

"Kai? Where did you get those marks?"

Kai studied Rei. /Why is he being so persistent? Why does he care?/ Kai recognised that to be the part of himself that hid and frightened people away. He knew that he didn't need to be so defensive any more, his grandfather and Biovolt were gone, he couldn't be hurt any more, so why couldn't he tell Rei about this?

/Because I'm still scared of what he can do to me./ And that was the crux of the problem. He couldn't let anyone close because they would just end up hurting him.

But looking into those hurt golden pools, Kai knew that Rei would never intentionally hurt him. If he really wanted to change like he promised himself, he would have to take this first risky step.

"In the abbey."

Rei looked surprised that Kai had actually answered. He looked deeper into Kai and saw that he was completely vulnerable, something he'd never been before. /He wants to trust me!/ Rei realised with wide eyes.

Rei looked at him encouragingly. "What happened?"

Kai turned away and sat down on the bed, gesturing for Rei to do the same. He sighed and looked over at Rei. "When I was very young, I was taken away from my parents by my grandfather to become part of the Biovolt project. I was taken to the abbey. These tattoos are a mark of my slavery, my belonging to the project."

Rei looked slightly horrified. "But the others, the Demolition boys, they don't have these marks."

"No, they don't. I was the original project, the first experiment. When Tala and the others arrived, I had been there almost two years, I think."

"You think?"

"I don't actually remember much of the Abbey from my younger days, and I don't really remember my escape either. All I can really remember is pain and horror. The only way to relive myself of the pain was to become the best, to become better. I know now that I had been brainwashed to do that, it was part of the project, but then, it was the only way to escape the pain."

A single tear trickled down Kai's cheek and Rei's heart went out to him.

"Kai."

The blue-haired blader looked at him imploringly. "Rei, you can't tell anyone this, please, I don't want them to know about my past. I don't want pity and I don't want sympathy."

Rei nodded. "Of course, what are friends for?" he smiled at Kai.

"Friends." Kai looked at him for a moment before returning the warm smile. "I suppose we are that."


	7. Do You Remember?

__

Hey guys, sorry for the wait. Okay, there is lots of yummy yaoiness in this chapter, so I hope this makes up for the delay. Enjoy.

****

Chapter Six — Do You Remember?

More people had arrived overnight.

The Majestics had shown up, along with their various entourages. Max's parents were both there along with Takao's father and grandfather. Mr. Dickinson had also arrived overnight with a few Beyblade officials and high profile Beyblade figures, like Jazzman, Brad Best and AJ Topper. A few more family members from the other teams were there, but Kai had no interest in them. One person alone occupied his mind

Rei.

Kai had no idea what it was he was feeling every time he looked over at the smiling tiger, all he knew what that it was uncomfortable, yet warm and delightful at the same time. /Is this really love?/ Kai studied the graceful blader more, unaware that as he did so, another studied him.

Tala watched his former comrade with unreadable eyes. From the argument they'd had the day before, most people would assume that he was resentful and angry, but those close to him would have known different. He was deeply troubled and very upset about something, and it had to do with Kai.

/What the hell does he think he's doing, playing with me like that?/ Tala's eyes narrowed as he studied Kai further. /Pretending like he doesn't remember. Asshole./ Tala snorted and looked at Rei, trying to find out what was so fascinating about the blader to have caught Kai's attention.

/He is attractive I suppose, and graceful, but Kai was never one for a purely physical relationship. What is it about Rei that Kai likes so much? Personality?/ Tala smiled at the thought. /Perhaps, but there's something deeper to this./ Tala watched as Rei approached Kai and started a conversation with him, managing to elicit a smile from the stoic blader. Tala's eyes narrowed again. /What was that in Kai's eyes? Does he … could he even be capable of trusting Rei?/ Tala's eyes widened.

"It can't be," he whispered, shocked to find emotion in his voice. His vision blurred and he knew that he had tears in his eyes. Horrified. Tala walked stealthily over to the exit and walked out the door, hoping that no one else noticed his distress.

He leaned against the wall in the corridor outside the room, trying to regain his composure.

/What was that? I thought I was over all of that, but I suppose I'm not./ Tala flicked a glance to the room. "Kai," he hissed with a glare and walked out of the stadium and away from the merriment.

Two people noticed Tala's departure.

Kai dismissed it almost immediately, putting it to the back of his mind to deal with later. Right now, he was occupied by Rei.

The neko-jin noticed a small flicker of something in Kai's eyes as he watched Tala leave and Rei got a bit nervous. "Kai? Is something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine." There was something up, but Rei knew that if it was important Kai would tell him later.

"Cool." Rei smiled. "So, later do you wan to show me around Moscow? Last time I didn't get to se too many of the sights."

"Sure." Kai smiled at Rei's excitement. "We can go now if you want. It'll take more than a day to show you everything of interest, but there's a few things that I'd like to show you straight away."

"Do you think anyone will mind?" Rei looked around and noticed that everyone else was occupied by something. No one would notice their departure. 

"Probably not. Do you want to go now? We don't have to if you don't want to."

"No I do. Let's go." Rei smiled and they made their way to the exit, saying goodbye to a few people as they passed.

"I wonder where they're going?" Max looked after Kai and Rei curiously than dismissed them as he turned back to his companions smiling. "I guess Kai's showing Rei around town."

Takao smiled, trying not to let his mind wander too far as he thought of the implications of Max's statement. "I guess. I wonder why everyone's leaving though?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, all the officials left after an hour, including Mr. D, all the parents and my grandpa have gone off to a bar some place. Tala's just gone and now Rei and Kai left too. So now it's just us, Kenny, the All-Stars, the White Tigers and the Majestics." Max looked around. Takao was right, only the three teams and the three members of the Bladebreakers were left in the huge hall.

"Hey, you're right. I don't think any one cares though. Look how much fun they're all having."

Well, fun was an interpretive word, but everyone did seem to be enjoying themselves. Gary, Kevin, Mariah and Lee were with Emily and Kenny, the later two being teased by Mariah. It was obvious that Kenny liked the American girl, he just wouldn't say anything and by the embarrassed look on Emily's face, she felt the same way. Lee was smiling at the two of them and holding onto Mariah's hand the whole while, as if stressing his claim to her, while the other White Tigers were laughing at Mariah's comments.

Having met the previous year at the world championships, the Majestics and the All-Stars got on fairly well and were enjoying a discussion about various things. Apparently, for their holiday, Judy had taken her team to Europe and they had toured much like the Bladebreakers had on their way to Russia. Robert and the others were talking about various sites they could have visited on their tour and offered to let them stay at their huge castles if ever they visited again.

Takao sighed. He wasn't having much fun. He really enjoyed being with Max, but all he really wanted to do was be somewhere alone with him.

"Hey Max?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind if we went somewhere more secluded?" /Damn, that so came out wrong. Sure it was what I was thinking, but I didn't mean to say that out loud./ Takao may have been berating himself quietly, but his expression hadn't changed at all.

Max looked at his friend closely, trying to find out what exactly Takao meant by his comment. When he couldn't find any sort of guile of hints in his voice or one his face, Max's heart drooped slightly. /I'd thought … but I shouldn't have. Takao has probably never thought of me like that./

Like his friend, Max didn't show any form of disappointment on his face as he agreed. "Sure." /At least I'll be alone with him, even if he doesn't think of me like I do him./

"Great, I think there's a garden or something around here somewhere." /Oh man, I wish he felt the same way I did./ Takao lead him through the same door that Kai and Rei had gone through the night before. They walked silently through the cold dead garden to the centre where the frozen fountain and the cold stone bench were situated.

Takao sat down, shivering slightly at the cold and gestured for Max to sit beside him.

"So Max, I never got to ask, how was your trip to see your mother?"

"It was great. I got to train with the All-Stars for a while, then dad and I went for a trip around America. He stayed with mum for a while after I left to come here with you."

"So, you think things will be going back to normal between them?"

Max smiled at his friend. "Hopefully. Dad understands why mum has to stay away a lot, but he still misses her a lot. So do I."

"I know how you feel. It's tough when dad leaves on one of his digs, but with Grandpa there it's not so bad."

"So, Takao, what did you do while I was gone?"

Takao sighed. "Not much. You're a fun person to be around Maxie, nothing much happens when you're not there."

"Oh, you're just saying that." Max pushed him playfully.

"No I'm not." Takao's sudden seriousness caught Max's attention. "I really missed you when you were gone, after all, it was almost six months."

Max looked at Takao intently. "I missed you too Takao, it wasn't the same without you." Max laughed. "It's strange, we've only known each other for whet, two years maybe and we sound like we've known each other a lifetime."

"It feels like a lifetime. I mean, in that first year everything happened, my whole life changed." Takao took Dragoon out of his pocket and smiled down at his bitbeast. "I'm a member of the world champion beyblading team, and I have the greatest friends in the world, that I trust and cherish more than almost everything in my life."

"More than food even?" Max's eyes twinkled.

"Hey. Let's not go to far." They both laughed at Takao's statement.

Max looked over at Takao, touched by his words. Well, maybe not the food joke, but by everything else. /Although I suppose he's not just talking about me. He just thinks of me as a friend. I hope I can be okay with just that./

"Hey Max?" Takao was worried by the serious and slightly melancholic expression on his friend's face. "You okay buddy?"

Max smiled cheerfully. "Sure."

Takao returned the smile. "That's good. Max, you know that I think you're my best friend don't you?"

"You do?"

"Yeah. I'm closer to you than anyone else on the team." /I guess this is it./ Takao steeled himself and looked directly into Max's eyes. "Do you remember when we first met?" Max nodded. "I took an instant liking to you. I know you think otherwise, but it takes a while before I completely accept other people as friends. But you were different. Do you want to know what I thought the first time I saw you?" Takao asked nervously.

"What?" /Where's this headed? He can't possibly be nervous around me, could he? Why would he be nervous … unless … no, he couldn't possibly think of me like that, could he?/ Max's breath hitched slightly and he grew a bit nervous too.

Takao shifted closer to Max, so that they were almost touching. Neither of them noticed the cold wind whipping around them, or the way their breath still steamed in the air even at the warmest part of the day. Both boys were captivated by the other's eyes.

"I was thinking about what it would be like to get to know you better, so I could …" Takao drifted off and looked down nervously.

"So you could what?" Max moved over so that they were now touching. He drew Takao's chin up so that he was looking Max in the eyes again. "So you could what?" he repeated.

"So I could kiss you." Takao's face flushed as he breathed those words and he looked away as Max's eyes widened in shock. "Max, I know you probably don't ever want to talk to me again, but I just had to —"

Takao's ramblings were cut off by Max's mouth on his own.

The blond boy kissed him gently, but forcefully, conveying his own intentions to his friend. Breaking it off after a short while, he stared into Takao's dazed eyes and smiled.

"I had the same thought running through my mind." Takao's eyes widened at the realisation that his crush returned his feelings and grinned.

"Well then, maybe we should do that again."

"I totally agree." Max smiled then Takao captured his lips again in a passionate kiss.


	8. How Well Do You Know Yourself?

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Sorry for the major wait and sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I'm also sorry for the last chapter. It seemed to me after I was reading through this all again that it was a bad attempt at a subplot. It's not though (I hope), there will be other stuff concerning Max & Takao. Anyway, I hope this chapter makes up for it. I hope I'll have the next one out soon as well. Until then, enjoy.

****

Chapter Seven — How Well Do You Know Yourself?

Rei laughed as Kai finished repeating some amusing anecdote from his childhood in Russia. They had been walking around Moscow for almost two hours and the sun was starting to set. Kai had just pointed out a building of interest and told Rei about how he had humiliated himself when he was younger in front of a large crowd gathered there.

Rei was sure that the story wasn't quite as amusing as it sounded, considering when it would have taken place in Kai's past, but the way Kai told it made it sound more enjoyable.

Kai smiled at the sight of his friend enjoying himself. That was the thing about Rei, whenever he was happy, everyone around him seemed to be too. Even Kai, stoic as he was, couldn't escape the influence Rei had on people.

"You should smile more often Kai." The blue haired blader looked at Rei partly in shock at the statement and amusement. He decided to settle for amusement.

"Is that a lame attempt at a come on?"

"Kai!" Rei blushed and punched his friend in the arm. Then he smirked. "Only if you want it to be."

Kai burst out laughing. The tiger's attempt at seduction wasn't in the least bit hilarious, but for Kai who had spent the better part of a year with him, the concept of Rei trying to seduce anyone was absurd.

"Fine, if you think you're too good for me." Rei turned away, pretending to be affronted.

Kai looked over at him and smiled again. "You know, this has probably got to be one of the best times I've had with anyone, Rei."

Rei snorted. "Now who's coming up with lame come on's?"

"I'm serious." Kai looked out into the deepening twilight of the sky. "Russia holds so many bad memories, it's nice to have a good one to remember it with also." Kai realised that he may have blurted out a bit more than he intended and looked away.

Rei didn't say anything, he knew that Kai was still trying to deal with the fact that he was completely free of his past and with his relations with everyone. He knew Kai still needed time.

"It's starting to get dark. We should head back."

"Right." Rei nodded at the suggestion and looked around. "Where are we?"

"In a residential neighbourhood. Don't worry, I know my way around." Kai started walking, but halted as he neared a house.

"Kai? Is something wrong?" Rei looked at his captain in concern.

Kai didn't answer, he just stared at the house with the large barren tree in front of it for a while.

"Kai!"

"I'm fine Rei." Kai shook himself out of his strange daze and smiled reassuringly at his teammate. "I'm fine."

"Sure." Rei was still watching him worriedly as they walked back to their hotel.

/I know you're hiding something Kai, I just hope that whatever it is won't hurt you if you keep it bottled up./

***

__

//"Hi there."

The child looked up from his misery to see a girl swinging upside-down on a branch in a tree. He glared coldly at her then continued walking down the street glumly.

"Are you lost?"

Why did she care? The child stopped in his tracks again and looked back. The girl was now sitting upright on the branch, looking at him concerned.

"I said, are you lost?"

"I heard you the first time." The cold child glared at her with crimson eyes again. "What do you want?"

"Do you want to play with me?"

"I have no time for games."

"Oh. That's too bad. Maybe if I see you again you can play with me."

"Whatever." He started walking again.

"My name's Celia." The girl jumped lightly down from the tree and ran over to stand in front of him, smiling. "What's your name?"

"Kai." Why did he even answer? It's not like he should care about such a weak and pathetic person.

"That's a nice name." The girl turned her head as she heard her name being called from inside her house. She smiled apologetically at Kai. "I've got to go. I hope I see you again Kai."

"Whatever." Kai watched her as she waved then dashed off into the warmth of her house. Then he turned back to the road and resumed walking again.//

Kai opened his eyes slowly. /What was that? A memory? But I have absolutely no recollection of such an event before tonight./ He looked over at the clock. 2 a.m. /I should get more sleep. I'll think on this in the morning./ He rolled onto his side and shut his eyes, snuggling up almost unconsciously to the warm body beside him.

_//He was running through the snow-covered streets, running from everything. Running from the pain, running from the horror, running from his life._

He was leaving nothing behind.

And yet he was leaving everything.

"I'm weak," he sobbed as tears coursed down his cheeks, freezing as they encountered biting winds and falling snow. "I'm weak that's why I couldn't save him. That's why they're trying to hurt me. I'm not good enough."

He tripped on a rock embedded beneath the white-covered ground. He lay there for a while, sobbing, as snow continued to fall on him. He struggled futilely to get up, repeatedly falling face-first again each time. He was spent, a child had only so much endurance.

"They're going to catch me and they're going to hurt me," he whispered, giving up on any hope that he could possibly escape his fate.

"Kai?"

He slowly turned his head to the side, ready to be met with an image of one of the many similarly appearing drones from the abbey, ready to meet with his fate.

What he saw surprised him.

"Celia?"

"Oh my god! What happened?" She ran over to him, leaving her bewildered and obviously worried parents behind. She checked him over to see if he was hurt. "What happened to you?"

"I … they …" Kai couldn't speak, he was so tired and worried and so traumatized by everything that had happened that he passed out, the last thing he saw being Celia and her parents stare at him in actual concern.//

Kai groaned in his semi-awake state and stretched out slightly, accidentally knocking and waking Rei.

The tiger himself looked over at him, bleary-eyed. "Kai?"

"Sorry," he mumbled and got up, walking over to the bathroom to have a shower and wake himself up completely. One thought was occupying his mind.

/What the hell was all of that?!/

***

Kai stood for a few minutes in the shower, letting the pounding hot water slide over his body.

/What the hell is going on?/

He looked up at the steam-obscured ceiling.

/These dreams feel so real, what are they? Are they really memories? If so then why haven't I remembered them before?/

Kai lowered his head and let the boiling water strike down at the base of his neck. He ran his fingers through his wet hair and stopped as he felt an old scar behind his left ear.

~~

He was in the grey room again. He was sobbing and screaming and pounding against the locked door. He knew they were going to come for him again.

"No! Please! I can't! I can't do it! Not again! Please, I'm sorry I'm not good enough! Please, don't do it again! PLEASE!"

~~

Kai's eyes widened in shock and he stumbled back, hitting the faucets. The sudden pain of the metal jabbing him in the back jolted him forward again.

"What the fuck was that!"

There was knocking at the bathroom door.

"Kai?" It was Rei, he sounded worried. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Kai ran his fingers through his hair again, telling himself that as much as he was telling Rei. "I'm really fine."

"All right." Rei didn't sound convinced, but he let Kai get away with it.

"I'm fine," Kai repeated in a soft whisper. "Aren't I?"


	9. Scars of the Mind

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Hey, sorry for the wait. I've gotten a lot of inspiration for the plot of this, so I should be updating fairly frequently now. Anyways, I hope that you like this next chapter.

****

Chapter Eight — Scars of the Mind

Tala sighed and finally got up. He couldn't delay this any more. He took a quick shower and got dressed.

Takao had made a request. Usually he would have just ignored it if he wanted to, but Mr. Dickinson had made the same one a little while later. He couldn't avoid it forever, he knew that, but he'd wanted to stall for longer than that.

He had to bring the rest of the Demolition Boys with him on this latest bey-team excursion.

/This whole thing is really stupid. What on earth is the point of gathering all of the best teams up again for a one year reunion?/ Tala shook his head as he finished getting ready. Then he noticed something odd about the room he was in.

He was the only one in it.

"Damn, guess I must have forgotten to tell him," Tala muttered. "By the looks of it he's long gone too. Guess they'll just have to settle for three of us."

/Or four if you count Kai./ Tala hissed.

Kai.

Gods how he hated hearing about him. Every time he heard or thought about Kai a wave of loathing would rise up and consume him.

/I wish I could just get past it, but I can't. He's always there in my thoughts, ever since .../ Tala slammed a frustrated fist down onto a desk. A drop of liquid fell onto the hand and Tala stared at it for a long time before he realised it was a tear, shed by him. This made him even angrier.

"Traitor," he spat and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

***

Tala glanced around at the gathering with wariness.

And good reason.

No one here trusted him. /And why should they? I was once part of an organisation bent on taking over the world. Not to mention I helped steal most of their bit-beasts./ Tala smirked at some of the nasty glares sent his way by the others and looked around.

He spotted two familiar figures approaching the group and he went over to meet them.

"Ian, Spencer. You're late."

"Well you didn't give us much warning," Ian grumbled glaring at Tala. "I had to do some major explaining to my parents. They're still afraid that I'll run off again and join another evil organisation."

"Like you really had a choice about joining the first," Spencer snorted, grinning at him.

"True. Still, they're fairly paranoid." Ian looked back at Tala. "So how has the party been so far?"

"Boring and hostile." Tala grinned. "I get the feeling they don't like me very much."

Ian studied him carefully. "I don't see that myself. Personally, I don't like you much either, but that has nothing to do with who you are. I'm sure you've a very nice person deep down." He paused. "Very deep down that is."

Tala laughed and shook his head. "I feel the same way about you shrimp. Come on, we should get moving. Everyone was waiting on you." Tala looked around. "And Takao. I don't think that guy's ever been on time for anything in his life." The three Russian Bladers made their way over to the large group, who all tensed up as they stood nearby.

"Ah! I'm glad you boys made it." Mr. Dickinson smiled cheerily at them, ignoring the dark looks he received from the All-Stars and the White Tigers. "But there seems to be one missing."

"Bryan couldn't make it," Tala informed him. "He had something else to do today." /How could I have forgotten about that? He goes every morning without fail./ "He might be able to catch up with us later." Tala ignored Spencer and Ian's curious looks and spoke directly to Mr. Dickinson, who smiled at the explanation.

"I guess it can't be helped then. So now we're only waiting on ..."

"Wait!" Everyone turned as they heard Takao yelling their way. He was running down the street with his arms flailing wildly. "Hang on, I'm here!"

"Oh Takao," Max shook his head and a few of the others laughed at the boy.

Takao reached them and leaned down on his knees, panting for breath. "Sorry, I slept in."

"That's a new one," Kenny muttered sarcastically. "Can we get going now?"

"Of course. Kai?" The blue-haired blader looked up and Tala suppressed his urge to knock the boy out. "Could you lead the way?"

"Sure. Where to?"

Mr. Dickinson smiled, but Tala caught a glint of *something* behind that calm gaze. The old man was up to something. "To the west side of town if you would."

"Sure." Kai looked a bit apprehensive, and with good reason. The Abbey was located in the west side of town, along with a few other nasty haunts owned by Biovolt and Voltaire. Tala went on alert as soon as he heard this, as did his two teammates. A few people noticed, like Rei and Kenny, but everyone else seemed oblivious to the tension.

Kai took the lead with Rei close by him and Mr. Dickinson joined them. "So where are we going?" Tala heard Kai ask.

"There's quite a nice place on the west side that I would like you all to see, but I can't say more than that or I'll ruin the secret." Mr. Dickinson smiled mysteriously at the two of them and struck up a conversation with Max's mother, seeing as she was the only other adult there.

Tala and his companions trailed a bit behind the group, out of earshot.

"So why are we here again?" Ian asked darkly. I have better things to do with my time than hang out with this boring bunch of losers, who just happen to hate my guts."

"We're here because we were invited to come along," Tala told him quietly. "Don't ask me why, because I don't know. I suspect it's a way to promote unity among the teams and to try and get us more involved in the beyblade world again."

"Why bother?" Ian snorted. "It's just a waste of their time. It'll be years before Russia is stable enough to form another beyblade team like ours, and even more years to find someone to sponsor it."

"Maybe Mr. Dickinson has something else up his sleeve," Spencer suggested.

"Maybe." Tala murmured quietly. /That old man's up to something. I wish I knew what though. I hate being left in the dark./ Tala didn't say another word to either of his companions for the rest of the walk. He just gazed ahead, wrapped in his thoughts, his eyes coming to rest unconsciously onto the back of Kai's head.

/Kai again. Why does he torment me so?/ Tala's expression didn't change, he was too well trained to let his emotions slip so easily, but inside he was seething with rage and confusion. /The thing is, I don't even know why I hate him so much. It's almost as if, I've lost some of my memories./ Tala's eyes narrowed. /Or had them taken away./ Tala's hand strayed up to his left ear and he tentatively brushed the scar he knew was there.

~~

"No! Please!" 

He was in the grey room again. That chair with the tight straps that dug into your skin so deep that your wrists bled and stained red was there and so was the table, filled with sharp and painful instruments. He could almost hear the echoes of anguished sobs and blood-curdling screams filling the room. It was so cold and dark and empty. It drained him.

Tears were coursing unrestricted down his cheeks. He looked up at his guards pleadingly. "Please, let me go. I don't want to do this! Please! Let me go! I can't do this again!"

In the end his struggles were always futile. He was tied down so tight that his hands started turning blue and his breathing was restricted. However he always managed to pant in fear and soon after scream in pain as the masked man moved in with his tray of instruments.

~~

Tala closed his eyes to rid himself of the horrid memory and shook his head slightly. When he looked up again, his eyes held only the merest hint of pain, only those close to him could see he was troubled. Those who were smart would leave him alone to deal with it himself.

Which is what Ian and Spencer did, despite their concern for their leader.

Realising they had arrived wherever the were supposed to go, Tala sent one last glare in Kai's direction before he entered the large brick building with Ian and Spencer following.

***

It was a training facility.

Everything anyone would ever want to play, every sport, every form of exercise, even saunas and spas — it had it all. Not even the All-Stars had a training facility like this, or the Majestics with all their wealth.

"Woah," Takao gasped, staring around in awe. "Mr. D, how on earth did you manage to get this place?"

"I called in a few favours. Not to mention I had funds from the BBA, Judy's company and the Majestics. This training facility is a private one, only registered teams deemed acceptable by the BBA are allowed access to this place. So far, only four teams have been put on the list. Your teams."

"Ours?" Takao wasn't the only one looking at Mr. Dickinson in amazement. He chuckled merrily.

"Well, you are the top four teams in the world at the moment. There are some perks to being so successful."

"I'll say." Takao grinned. "Hey, Maxie, let's go check out the sauna!" Takao grabbed his blond friends' hand, not taking any noticed of the boy's blush, and dragged him from the room. Everyone else had the same ideas. Emily and Mariah headed for the spa, declaring it off limits to all boys for a while. Michael, Kenny and Lee decided to follow Max and Takao to the sauna. Eddy, Steve, Kevin and Gary decided to check out the swimming pool and aqua gym.

Ian shrugged in Tala's direction and went with Spencer to check out the gymnasium and it's equipment. Tala watched as Kai and Rei also exited, heading for the beyblade dishes. Tala decided to go with his friends but stopped as he found a small work out room full of boxing and martial arts equipment. He grinned and decided to give himself a thorough work out instead.

/This should keep my mind occupied for a while. I've been wanting to let off some steam./

***

Tala didn't know how long he'd worked out for before he decided to take a break and cool down.

No one had come to find him, so he assumed that everyone was still here and occupied by whatever they could find. He grabbed a towel from a shelf where quite a few had been conveniently stacked and wiped away some of the sweat. Then he headed out in search of the pool.

It was deserted when he arrived. The four boys must have found something else to keep them occupied. Tala didn't mind. He preferred solitude anyway. He stripped off to his boxers and placed his clothes out of the water's reach then dove in, reveling in the feel of the cool water washing over his hot sweaty skin, despite how it was winter outside. The entire place was kept to a moderate temperature so that everyone wouldn't freeze. A distinct advantage, Tala saw, as he swam a few slow laps in the Olympic sized pool.

After he felt he had cooled down sufficiently, Tala made his way over to the side and started to pull himself up out of the pool, not realising there was someone standing before him.

When he did notice, his eyes opened wide in surprise and he overbalanced and fell back into the water. He came up spluttering and glared at the proffered hand.

Kai looked down at him curiously. "Do you want to get out or not?"

Tala glared at him. "Get lost Kai."

Kai arched an eyebrow at him. "Do you want my help or not?"

"When have I ever needed your help?" Tala spat out, pulling himself out over the edge with ease and standing up to stare at Kai face-to-face.

"Why are you acting like this?" Kai asked irritably. "All I'm doing is trying to be nice."

"Nice?" Tala laughed. "Kai, the time when you are actually being nice to me and caring about my welfare will probably be a herald for the end of the world." Tala walked past him, moving his wet body slightly so he didn't touch Kai's clothes. He was above that kind of pettiness.

Kai was getting fed up. He grabbed Tala by the shoulder and turned him around. "What the hell did I ever do to you?"

Tala's ice-blue eyes blazed with fury. "What did you ever do to me? You bastard, how dare you even ask that!"

Kai was about to retort scathingly when he noticed something behind Tala's ear that he hadn't noticed before. His eyes widened slightly. Tala didn't have any idea what was going on. His eyes narrowed as Kai brought his hand up and gently brushed his fingers against the jagged scar. Tala gasped and his eyes opened wide as he suddenly remembered something.

~~

Tala was crying, being held in Kai's arms. They were still quite young. Kai only had two triangle tattooed onto his face, the two smaller ones on either side. He was looking down at his distraught friend with worry evident in his eyes.

"Tala, don't worry, you're safe now."

"I'm not, I'm never safe." Tala sobbed and leaned into Kai, who tightened his grip on the other boy.

"You'll always be safe while I'm here. You don't have too worry, I'll never leave you, I'll always be here for you."

Tala raised his red rimmed eyes to stare at his friend. "You will?"

Kai nodded and smiled gently. "Of course. I would never leave you to bear this alone."

~~

Kai took a step back as Tala recoiled from his touch. They stared at one another intently, not realising they had an audience.

Rei looked down, fighting back tears, as he saw the gentle way Kai touched Tala. He turned his back on the two of them as they jumped away and ran out of the pool area, not caring that he'd left Kai behind even after searching for him.

This went unnoticed by both boys as they stared at each other in wide-eyed shock, trying to figure out what just happened.

"Tala," Kai began, taking a small step towards the redhead.

That was a mistake. Tala's eyes narrowed at the movement and he swung at Kai, hitting him on the lip.

"Bastard," he spat and walked out of the poolroom, grabbing his clothes, leaving Kai standing by the water's edge looking stunned, his lip leaking a small trickle of blood.


	10. Conspiracy

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Hey guys, really sorry about the long wait. Um, yeah a few plot twists in here. Hope you enjoy.

****

Chapter Nine — Conspiracy

Kai walked slowly back to the front room, thinking over the strange puzzle of his past.

/What the hell was that I saw? I've never remembered anything of Tala before except for a few vague impressions. Did I somehow forget all about our friendship?/ Kai shook his head and frowned. /No, that doesn't seem right. I wouldn't forget something like that, unless I was forced to./

Kai's eyes widened and he tentatively reached a hand to the scar behind his ear. /Is that what they did to me? I knew they had brainwashed us, but did they tamper with our memories as well?/ Kai berated himself for a fool. /Of course they did, that's the entire point behind brainwashing. I guess they wanted all happy memories sucked from us, although, that situation didn't seem very happy./ Kai looked up as he approached the room and noticed that everyone was gathered already by the entrance. /But I guess we had to take whatever happiness we could at the Abbey./

Tala didn't look in his direction as he approached the teams in his usual silent manner. /I guess I know why he's so pissed off with me now. But he seemed shocked to remember all of that. If that was so, then why else could he have hated me so much?/

"Hey Kai, did you get a chance to check out the saunas?" Takao was grinning in his usual silly manner and Kai would have walked straight past him if something odd didn't catch his eye. He looked at Takao's hand curiously, it was wrapped around another paler hand. Seeing Max standing just beside him, Kai smirked.

"I'm sure you had a very enjoyable time there," he commented dryly. Takao looked a bit confused until he saw Kai's gaze flick down to his hand. Then he blushed bright red and let Max's hand go. Max, who had been watching the conversation with slight apprehension blushed too. Kai's smirk grew bigger. "A very enjoyable time it seems."

"Uh … Kai," Takao looked a bit flustered.

Kai held up a hand. "Not my business. I won't say a word unless it starts to affect your training." Then Kai thought of something. "Don't do anything sappy around me either, that's just creep me out." Kai shuddered as he thought of it and walked off.

Takao watched him leave and let out a large breath. "Well, that certainly went better than I expected."

"Do you think he'll tell anyone?" Max asked apprehensively.

"Kai? Actively seeking out someone to gossip? He may have changed, but not that drastically."

Max laughed. "You're right. I just wish we could have told all of them in a better way." Then he went pale. "What are the others going to think. Or say?"

Takao brushed his arm soothingly. "Well, if we have Kai's approval then I don't think the others' will be hard to get."

"You're right again. I'm sorry, I'm just kind of paranoid about everything." He flushed slightly. "This is my first relationship after all."

Takao looked around nervously and pulled Max away a little bit before giving him a quick reassuring kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry, we'll do this together." He smiled gently and Max pulled him down for a quick kiss.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Takao walked over to where Kenny and Rei stood with Max close behind. Takao frowned slightly as he studied Rei. The raven-haired neko-jin looked close to tears. But a fake smile sent his way warned him not to talk about it. Takao shrugged and returned the smile. He looked around for Kai and saw him standing with Mr. Dickinson talking quietly about something.

Sending his gaze around the room he noticed the Majestics were missing. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen them earlier either.

"Hey Chief? Do you know where the Majestics are?"

Kenny shrugged. "I don't know. Mr. Dickinson said they couldn't make it."

"Oh, all right. I guess they must have already seen this place, being investors and all."

"Probably."

Takao looked around again and noticed Tala glaring at Kai. /Jeez, what could have happened? I wonder why those two don't get along? They're so alike, maybe they just rub against each other. Kind of like what me and Kai used to be./ Takao frowned at this thought. /Still are I suppose./ Takao looked over at the others to ask something and noticed the stricken look on Rei's face as he watched how Kai continually kept glancing at Tala. He looked away and was about to walk away when Takao grabbed his arm.

"We have to talk," he hissed quietly to Rei.

***

Tala reached a hand into his back pocket as he heard the faint sound of his phone.

"Yes?" he asked quietly as he picked up.

"Tala, where are you?" It was Bryan, he sounded worried.

"At a BBA training facility. I meant to tell you about the latest trip, you were supposed to come."

"Maybe it's a good thing I didn't."

"What?"

"Where are you? I need to see you and I've got to help them.

"Who?"

"Celia and Alex. We're being chased."

Tala swore loudly, catching the attention a few people nearby. "I'm on the west side."

"Us too. Whereabouts?"

"The recently done up factory in the old market centre."

"I'll be there soon. I've got to loose our tail first though."

"Right. I'll be waiting."

"Oh, Tala, wait." Tala froze as he heard Bryan say this. "I've found the info."

Tala paled. "Get here as soon as you can. Forget the tail, you could get yourself killed. Just hurry, I'll find some way to cover your ass. And take care of the children."

"Will do." Bryan hung up. Tala stared at his phone for a second before swearing and running over to Mr. Dickinson.

"Sir, I've got a problem."

"What is it Tala?" Mr. Dickinson asked calmly, looking at the frantic boy in concern. Tala was usually more composed than this. Kai was staring at him curiously.

"Bryan's on his way here with two other people."

"That's good, isn't it?"

"No sir, he's being chased by some of Boris' men."

"What did he do?" Kai raised an eyebrow. "It's not like Bryan to be sloppy and let himself get a tail."

Tala sent a frosty glare in Kai's direction, but when he saw that Mr. Dickinson wanted to know as well, he sighed. "For the past year, we've been searching for dirt on Biovolt. Boris and Voltaire couldn't be properly convicted with only the evidence of the BBA. I know they've still got another base somewhere and they're starting their experiments all over again. We've been looking for them and some of the information they had one us as well as other children. Bryan finally found them today."

"Who are these two others?"

"A young boy called Alex."

"The kid that Takao fought when we first came here?" Kai asked in surprise.

"I'm surprised you remembered," Tala retorted dryly. Mr. Dickinson sent him a disapproving look and Tala quieted. "The other is a girl Bryan, Alex and I are staying with. She and her family have been helping runaways from the Abbey for years. They found Spencer and Ian's parents for us and look after the three of us for now."

"Celia," Kai whispered and Tala froze.

"How do you know her?"

"I was the first child she and her family took in." Kai rounded on Tala with a fierce glare and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "If you've put them in danger, I swear I'll —"

"Kai! That will be enough!" Mr. Dickinson had a rarely seen, but very furious and serious look on his face. "Release him now." Kai looked at him resentfully then let Tala down, aware of the gazes that were now fixed on them. "Now we will deal with this calmly. Tala, would you and your team please wait for Bryan while I get everyone down into the basement."

"Is it that serious?" Kai asked with wide eyes.

"Bryan was trying to get five files. His, Ian's Spencer's, mine and of course, yours. Yes, I'd say this is serious and well worth the results. He's got more children Kai, I will not stand by and let him do that to more innocents again and neither will my team."

Kai glared at him. "You've put us all in danger."

"By simply being here everyone in this room is in danger." Tala glared at him once more then walked back over to Ian and Spencer and told them to wait out front for Bryan.

"Insufferable little —"

"Kai," Mr. Dickinson chided. "Tala is doing what he must to achieve his end."

"I know that, but it doesn't excuse the fact that he put everyone in danger," Kai hissed, clenching his hands tightly as he spoke. He glared at the redhead one last time then turned coldly to the old man. "I'll be with my team." Then he walked away.

Mr. Dickinson shook his head sadly. "Oh Kai, what happened to you? More importantly, what happened to you and Tala?"

***

"Hey Kai," Max called out cheerfully, though slightly apprehensively. He was still nervous about Kai knowing about him and Takao, but he didn't have to worry as Kai brushed past him with barely a glance.

"Kai?" Kenny asked worriedly, "Are you all right?"

"Peachy," Kai muttered, leaning against a wall. He glared at Tala once more before he noticed something was off. Looking around, he spotted Takao walking towards them slowly, but there was still something up.

"Where's Rei?"


	11. Pieces of the Past

__

Hey guys, I am so so sorry for the really long delay with this chapter, I just got stuck with a bit of writer's block. But hey, I updated, I didn't forget about this.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter.

****

Chapter Ten — Pieces of the Past

"What's this all about Takao?"

Takao looked around nervously as Rei asked him this before answering him. "I wanted to ask you something about Kai."

"What?" Rei was slightly apprehensive about this conversation. Takao wasn't as brainless as people thought, he was actually rather perceptive. It was altogether possible that he knew about his problem with Kai.

"You like him don't you?"

Rei stared at him in astonishment. He blushed slightly and started to stammer, "I … I d-don't know what you're talking about Takao …" he trailed off realising it wasn't doing any good. He sighed and Takao smiled gently. "Fine, you figured it out."

"So why haven't you said anything to him?"

Rei stared at him in amazement. "Are you serious? Kai would throw me off the team if he thought I felt like that about him." Rei turned away slightly. "Besides, I'm fairly certain he already has his eye on someone."

Takao looked curious. "Who?"

"Tala." Laughter was the last thing Rei expected in reaction to his statement. He looked at Takao in some confusion.

"Rei, those two have been at each other's throats since they set eyes on each other again. I doubt very much that Kai has warm and fuzzy feeling concerning Tala." Takao smiled smugly. "Trust me on this. Just take a chance with him. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Again Takao, let me just inform you this is *Kai* we're talking about here." Rei rolled his eyes and smiled at Takao. "Thanks anyway Takao. Talking helps somewhat."

"Any time bud."

"I still need a bit of time on my own though. Do you mind if I just wander off?"

Takao shrugged. "Go ahead, just remember we're supposed to meet up again later."

Rei nodded and walked down one of the walkways. Takao let out a worried sigh seeing him leave and turned back to walk to their teammates. /I wish Rei would just take a chance. I know Kai feels the same way about him too. They're both just too stubbourn to say anything./

He arrived back as Kai suddenly asked, "Where's Rei?"

"He went for a walk," Takao informed them with a smile.

Kai swore. "Which way did he go?"

Takao frowned and pointed down the hallway. "Kai, what's wrong?"

"I don't have time to explain. Just follow what Tala and Mr. Dickinson have to tell you and I'll be back with Rei as soon as I find him." The only reason the others didn't protest as Kai said this was because of the strange almost frightened look in his eyes.

Kai ran off down the hallway only to groan in dismay seeing the many doorways and side corridors leading away. /This is going to take me forever!/

***

Tala stayed at the top of the stairs leading down into the basement levels. This wasn't the only way in, but it was the closest to the main entrance.

He saw the confusion in the eyes of the other bladers as they went down, but all of them followed Mr. Dickinson's directions. Soon, everyone except Kai and Rei was down there. Tala looked around nervously and swore. 

"Ian, Spencer," he yelled out and the two quickly came up. "I need you two to stay here incase Bryan comes and lock the door. I don't care whether or not I'm back, lock it as soon as they're here, understand?" The two nodded and Tala quickly sped off down the main hallway.

/Damn you Kai, why did you have to do this?/ Tala quickly scanned each room he passed and came up with nothing. He swore again and started to turn down one of the hallways when something caught his eye.

"Rei!" he called out. Startled, the boy turned around and stared at the frantic Tala. "Get over here and down to the basement, we've got trouble approaching."

Rei's eyes widened and he nodded. "Thanks. Were you out looking for me?"

Tala nodded. "And Kai. Have you seen him?" Rei shook his head. "Damn. Look, just get down to the basement, Ian and Spencer are holding the doors open. If you can't see them and they're closed then find somewhere to hide quickly and don't move."

"What's going on?" Rei asked nervously.

"We'll explain later, just get going." Tala pushed him away and Rei ran off towards the basement. Tala looked around again and growled. "Damn you Kai," he muttered again and ran off in search of the elusive blader.

***

Rei approached the hallways to the basement and stopped. He didn't know where the main entrance was. He swore and looked around, his hand frantically searching out chunks of hair to pull out. Why did Tala have to tell him this, what the hell was going on?

"Okay, I should just think this through calmly," Rei said to himself. "If I follow this hallway, I should find the maintenance offices, which means basement access should be nearby." That figured out, Rei sped off down the hallway.

However, he did not notice the dark figure reach out and grab him as he passed, nor did he even hear the sound of the bullet being fired at him before it hit him, making him black out from the pain.

***

Tala ran down the last hallway, knowing that Kai had to be here somewhere.

"Kai!" he called out.

There was a scuffing sound just before he was flung down onto the ground and bullet-fire erupted everywhere.

"Run," Kai hissed in his ear as he got up off Tala. The boy wasted no time and did as Kai said and ran back towards the basement area. There were shouts from behind them as the shooters were caught by surprise then they heard more shots fired and running.

"Tala, Kai!" The two turned and saw Bryan gesturing frantically for them by one of the side doors to the basement. They looked around and saw that the shooters were still a few hallways behind them. Tala ran towards Bryan and almost slipped on a dark patch of liquid, but Kai caught him and straightened him up as he ran. They got inside and bolted the door down.

"You've got them?" Tala asked as he ran down the stairs with Bryan. Bryan held up some folders and Tala grinned. "We've got them by the balls now."

Kai didn't say a word, he just rushed into the main basement area. He heard the sounds of guns as he walked in and then Spencer and Ian lowered their weapons with smiles of relief.

Kai looked around nervously. "Who was wounded?"

Bryan, Ina and Spencer looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Tala slipped on a patch of blood. Whose was it?"

"No one besides you came down that passage," Bryan said.

Kai looked around at the bladers and his eyes widened as he noticed someone missing. "Where's Rei?'

Tala paled. "I sent him straight here when I saw him."

"You what?" Kai rounded on him. "They were already inside when you met up with me, how could you just send him off alone?"

"I didn't know they were inside! Besides, that might not have been Rei's blood."

Kai growled. "It better not be Tala, because if you've cause him harm because of your stupidity with this —"

"Kai!"

Kai turned around to Mr. Dickinson, the dark glare still on his face, but the man was still as stern as ever. "Should Rei have fallen, it is not Tala's fault. If. I do not believe that Rei is hurt."

Kai stepped away from them and walked over to stand in a corner. "You'd better be right," he threatened seriously.

It was at that moment a girl stepped forward, with her a young boy that looked very familiar to Kai. They girl ran up to Tala and hugged him.

"I'm so glad you're okay Tala."

Tala smiled at her. "What about you? I heard you and Alex had a bit of a scare, running around with Bryan." Tala looked suddenly stunned as she suddenly burst into tears. He looked at Bryan who had a pained expression on his face.

"I found them at the house. It was burned to the ground, along with Celia's parents."

"No," Tala breathed and he took the girl in his arms and let her cry onto his shoulder. "I'm so sorry Celia." The girl didn't answer, she just cried more. The boy, Alexander, was close to tears himself. He looked away and caught sight of Kai standing in the corner. His eyes widened and he walked over to him.

"I never got to thank you," he said quietly.

Kai looked down in surprise. "What?"

"For helping me when you found me again." Alex smiled. "For telling me about Celia."

The girl looked up at the sound of her name and she saw Kai standing with Alex, looking confused. Her breath caught and she pulled away from Tala. "Kai?" she whispered.

Kai looked over then was shocked as Celia caught him in a hug. "Oh, you're all right," she cried.

To say Kai was stunned did not even begin to explain how everyone else looked. Takao, Max and Kenny were staring at the girl as though she were a viper about to strike at any moment, the White Tigers and All-Stars were wide-eyes and speechless. This was *Kai* the girl was clinging to as she cried, was she crazy or something.

Kai looked down at the hysterical figure sobbing onto his shirt. "Celia," he tried, "Look, I know you've been through a lot, but can you hold onto yourself for a moment while we try and work things out."

Tala and Bryan glared at him as he said this and Celia looked up at him hurt. Kai winced. Maybe that was a bit harsh, but he was too worried, confused an angry to deal with much right now.

"I'm sorry," Celia said finally, much to his surprise. "I'll try to calm myself." Celia released him and Alex went to her, giving her a quick hug and a reassuring smile.

Tala snorted. "You really haven't changed at all have you Kai."

Kai growled. "Look Tala, I'm really sick of everything right now and you have been on my back for the past few days. I'm about to snap and I'm sure you don't want to be there when I do."

Tala sniffed at this. "Do you see me quaking in my boots?"

Kai stalked over to him. "I'm really sick of your attitude Tala, what the hell is wrong this time?"

"Does there have to be a reason for me to hate you?"

"Right now, I don't want to deal with this. I just want to find out what happened to Rei and make sure I can get him back safely."

Tala laughed at him. "Now that's a good joke Kai. I'm sure you really care about what happens to the tiger."

Kai glared at him. "You don't know me Tala , not any more."

"You're wrong, I know you better than you think. You don't give an damn about Rei, you don't care about anyone. You'll just abandon him as you did us. People like you don't change Kai, that much I've discovered the hard way." Tala turned away from Kai.

"I didn't abandon you," Kai yelled.

Tala turned back around, his eyes blazing. "Don't you dare lie to me again Kai! You abandoned me, broke every promise you ever made and all for the offer of power from Black Dranzer. When that didn't work you ran away. You left us back there, you left me back there without a care. You cared more about power than you did about any person."

"I didn't leave you! I didn't want the blade! They were going to kill you if I didn't use it!"

Silence fell with this startling statement from Kai. He looked stunned at the revelation that had seemingly come from nowhere.

Just what was going on with him?

__

AN: And we're now approaching the really action packed parts of the story, hence the reason for my writer's block. Don't worry, the next chapter will be out sooner, it's almost finished.

Until then

Laters.


	12. Truth Hidden by Lies

_Hey guys, next chapter here, things get even more interesting to say the least and I think some of you may despise me towards the end of this, but oh well, things happen._

_Enjoy._

**Chapter Eleven — Truth Hidden By Lies**

"What?"

            Kai ran his hands through his hair in a very unusual gesture of shock. He looked over at Tala, who had paled and shrugged. "I don't know. Why did I say that?"

            "Because it's true."

            Everyone turned to stare at Bryan. He looked up from the file he was reading, his eyes slightly wide. "Kai refused to use Black Dranzer, fearing its power for destruction despite all of his training. So in order to get him to comply, Boris threatened Tala. Kai was furious, so when he launched the blade he intentionally "lost control" and destroyed the Abbey."

            "It was intentional?" Everyone stared at Kai.

            "You don't know yourself?" Takao asked in surprise.

            Kai shook his head and Bryan snorted. "It's no wonder, considering what they did to you. You've had your mind messed with so many times I'm surprised it isn't leaking from your ears by now."

            "Thank you for the imagery Bryan," Tala muttered. "But why didn't we know of this?"

            "Well, when Kai destroyed the Abbey, none of us were there, so we didn't know what was happening. The story that he stole Black Dranzer and lost control was a way to explain it. Kai running away was true enough, but it wasn't because of trauma. They were after him, he had no choice." Bryan flicked through the files some more and frowned. "How did you get the marks Kai?"

            Kai glared. "None of your concern."

            "Answer the question Kai," Tala hissed.

            "They're a mark of the experiment. I was the first."

            Bryan shook his head. "That was only two of the marks. The other two were a punishment for defying Boris." Bryan read out some more. "Tala had gotten into trouble and you defended him and refused to let Boris have him, so after you were both punished, you were given the marks to remind you of your servitude."

            Kai stared at him. "How could I not know any of this? It's my life!"

            Celia spoke up again. "But you did." Kai faced her. "When you ran and we found you, you told us everything that had happened. You were only with us for a short amount of time before a man came and took you away. Later we discovered it was Voltaire."

            Kai started to shake. "But how ... why ...?"

            Ian snorted. "Like the Abbey needed a reason." He leaned over and picked up another file and passed it to Spencer then one to Tala then he picked up one himself.

            Takao cleared his throat. "So what happens now? We're pinned in here by Boris' men I assume and they're out to get you and those files. What do we do?"

            Kai looked around to see that everyone was staring at him and the Demolition Boys.

            "Well for now we stay here," he suggested. "See if there's a way to get in contact with the Majestics, or Judy, or someone outside who can help out. While we wait, we work out a plan. I'm sure they've got Rei by now, so we'll need to get him back."

            "Why would they want him?" Max asked. "Wouldn't they just kill him?"

            Kai paled considering the possibility then shook his head. "Boris doesn't operate like that. He's got something up his sleeve. He'll use Rei against us as a hostage for something."

            "Like last time," Bryan murmured.

            "What?"

            Bryan handed Kai the folder with his information in it. Kai scanned through it and paled. He looked over at Bryan and asked, "Did you know of this?" Bryan shook his head.

            "None of us did. I seriously thought you actually came back of your own free will."

            Tala frowned. "What are you talking about?"

            "Last year, Boris kidnapped Rei, Max, Takao and Kenny to try and force me to blade for you." The entire room went silent at this and Kai continued, "Only no one remembers any of it."

            "They must have improved on their brainwashing over the years," Bryan commented. "None of the directors had dared to brainwash us chemically since their failure with you before Kai, but I guess they must have tried to develop a stronger syrum to work with."

            Kai barely heard a word of this, he was furious. "I want to get out of here now, one way or the other." He looked over at Spencer and Ian. "Where did you get the guns?"

            Spencer pointed towards one of the rooms. "There's a locked room with security items. I think there could be a radio in there in case of emergencies, like now." Kai nodded and gestured for Bryan and Tala to follow him to the room.

            Takao stared after them and glared. "Does anyone else feel left out here?"

            "Takao," Max admonished. "They're trying to help. We'll just get in the way. Let's just leave Kai to do this, he knows what he's doing."

            "And that's what scares me," Takao muttered, watching as Kai and the two Demolition Boys walked back in brandishing guns. Kai swiftly loaded two handguns up and placed them in his belt while he then loaded up a rifle and shot gun.

            "Where did those come from?" Lee asked in shock. Everyone else seemed too stunned to ask the same question.

            "I assume from the budget of the BBA when building this place," Kai replied coldly. "Michael, I want you and Max to try and contact Judy. Takao go with them and see if you can get a hold of the Majestics if they don't get through, or even if they do get through. Mr Dickinson, could you possibly find someone to contact also?" Mr. Dickinson nodded and Kai smiled tightly. "Go with them. Everyone else stay here until we give word."

            "What are you doing Kai?" Kenny asked curiously.

            "We'll be the distraction." Kai frowned. "Kenny, I want you to hold onto these." He handed Kenny the files. "We need those to bring down Biovolt for good, take care of them." Kenny nodded, holding the files close.

            "So what's the plan?" Tala asked him quietly.

            "We basically shoot our way out of here," Kai informed him coldly, the sound of the safety on the handguns snapping off echoing in the silence.

*           *           *

Tala didn't have time for his emotions about Kai to get in his way, so he pushed all resentment aside and nodded as Kai gestured him to go one way down the main corridor while he checked the other.

            They'd left Ian and Spencer with the main group, most of the guns along with them, one in the radio room in case something happened with Tala, Kai and Bryan who were checking out the building and the intruders. They kept in contact with smaller portable radios. Tala shivered thinking about it. The scenario was similar to many he'd performed as a child in the Abbey. It seemed they could not quite escape their past yet.

            He slowly made his way down the corridor, looking back to see Kai already at the other end and Bryan still checking out the side corridors in brief sweeps. He looked back and froze hearing something. He waited then carefully peered around the corner to see a group of dark clad people walking down another side corridor. Tala paled and looked around for Bryan and Kai. They weren't in the corridor with him any more.

            /Oh no, that corridor will lead them straight to Bryan!/ Tala was about to run to him, when he heard shouts and the sound of gunfire. He did as he was trained and immediately went into one of the doors, finding a place to wait. He looked around and spotted a vent overhead. Hearing the sounds of orders and booted footsteps running in his direction, he made his decision.

            He used a shelf for support as he climbed up between the corner of the walls. He looked up and saw the metal was screwed into the ceiling. He swore at this and looked around again, frowning. There had to be a way to get out of here. He continued looking around but nothing came to mind. He swore quietly again and positioned himself to be ready for an attack.

            A sound from above made him whirl and point his gun at the figure dropping from the vent he'd just discarded as a way out. Glaring, Tala lowered his gun. Kai just gestured he follow him up. Tala was about to move when he heard voices in the corridor.

            "He says he's the only one and from all of our scouting, I'm fairly certain it's the truth."

            Tala froze hearing the voice He recognised it as one of the guards in the Abbey. He angrily shrugged Kai's hand off as he tried to force him to get up inside the roof. Kai glared at him, but then he too was distracted by the voices.

            "He could be lying. Are you Bryan?" The two boys glanced at each other fearfully hearing the sound of someone spitting then being punched. "Lying will do you no good boy, neither will trying to escape."

            Tala winced as he heard Bryan curse the guard then get another punch in return.

            "You keep that up and we'll have to drag you away in a body bag like we did the other boy."

            "No." Tala turned to see Kai starting to shake, his eyes wide. He realised then that they must have been talking about Rei. Kai was shaking his head in denial and they could hear Bryan swearing at him and trying to escape his captors. Tala ignored the sounds and made his way to Kai, who kept whispering, "No," over and over again.

            "Kai," he hissed, trying to get his attention, shaking him. Kai looked up at him with a distraught expression. "Don't freak out on me now," Tala pleaded. "We still need you badly."

            "But Rei ... gods, Tala!" Kai slid down the wall he'd been leaning against, still shaking.

            "Kai, we don't have time for you to indulge in hysterics, now get your ass up and help me save everyone we can." Tala glared down at him, finally relieved to get a reaction, if an angry one from the other boy.

            Kai stood up and was about to respond when they heard a scream echoing down the hallway. Tala paled, recognising Bryan's voice. Then suddenly the guard was laughing and calling out over the top of him, "Now see where your defiance has gotten you. Boris has given strict orders for all of you. It's the Grey Room for those who we bring back."

            Both Tala and Kai shrank back hearing these words. Almost in unison they reached up to touch their scars and flinched. Kai shook his head again and looked over at Tala who seemed close to tears. Now was not the time for them to be arguing about anything.

            "For what it's worth now, I promise to do anything in my power to help you bring these bastards down."

            "It's worth a lot," Tala replied with a hesitant smile. "Thanks Kai."

            "We can't help him." Tala nodded sadly. Kai sighed. "We'll go up to the roof." Tala nodded again and gestured that Kai was the first to go up into the ventilation shaft. Kai nodded and quickly grabbed onto the shelf that Tala had used before then swiftly grabbed onto the edge of the vent and went inside. Tala looked back once at the door and looked away in pain them copied Kai's movements, pulling the vent cover up behind him.

            As they both crawled through the ventilation system up to the roof, one thing was going though bot their minds: Vengeance.

_AN: Hmm, now __Bryan__ too, oh you guys are going to kill me about the Rei thing aren't you? I'm going to run now._

_Laters._


	13. The Real Deal

**Chapter Twelve — The Real Deal**

It was cold.

            That was the first thing that assaulted his senses when he stirred into wakefulness. It was also quite painful. He was lying somewhere hard and cold. He shivered then winced as he realised this hurt him. He turned his head slightly, only to realise that was all he could do. He was strapped down to a cold metal table in a dark empty room.

            He shivered and wondered at the strange feelings of familiarity as he looked around. He'd never been here before had he?

            He tried to move once more and pain overcame him once again and he drifted back into unconsciousness.

            ~~

They were in Moscow again, wandering the streets looking for something. Kai was leading them through the twists and turns.

            Takao was complaining about that last battle. He, liked everyone else had been disgusted by the way the director of the Abbey treated his students. Kai had to order them to ignore the treatment of that kid Alexander, almost having to forcefully drag Takao away.

            And now they were here, following their mysterious leader. Kai had been an enigma ever since they'd known him, but now being here, seeing his reactions to things, Rei wondered if they really knew anything at all about Kai.

            "What are we doing here?" Max asked, his teeth chattering.

            "Why don't you ask our fearless leader?" Takao muttered.

            "Quiet," Kai hissed at them, turning his head and glaring. "You'll get us found out."

            "Found out?" Kenny squeaked. The others looked startled.

            "Just what have you gotten us into Kai?" Takao demanded.

            "Nothing more than you could accomplish to do in an hour," Kai retorted. "At least when I sneak I don't get found out. Stay here, all of you."

            "Kai."

            Kai turned around, looking at the only member of his team that hadn't spoken. Rei was staring at him curiously. "Don't you need a lookout?" Rei grinned and Kai stared at him a moment longer before nodding. Rei moved away with him, gesturing for the others to stay.

            "Why did you offer?" Kai asked quietly as they moved away further into the streets.

            "I know this is important to you, I want to help."

            Kai nodded, conveying his gratefulness without a word. Rei grinned and followed him quietly through the streets.

            "Stay here," Kai hissed suddenly. "If anyone comes, do something, anything, to stall them." Rei nodded and watched curiously as Kai moved into one alleyway, looking around furtively. He knocked on a door and waited. Finally someone opened it and came out. Rei turned back to watch as the two conversed silently.

            Rei sighed as it seemed things were taking so long. He leaned against the wall and glanced over t Kai once more before turning back as he noticed movement close by. His eyes widened as he saw a man approaching them. He glanced once at Kai, who still looked busy then faced the man, placing a friendly smile on his face. The man started to turn into the alley mouth and Rei freaked.

            "Excuse me," he approached the guy nervously and smiled innocently. "I'm lost, do you think you could maybe point out a few main places to me so I can figure out where I am?"

            The man look at him in confusion then said something in Russian that Rei didn't understand. He bit his lip and glanced over his shoulder. The man watched him as he turned back. He gave him another smile, slightly nervous this time. "You don't understand English? Japanese maybe?"

            The man tried to move on with a shrug of his shoulders, but Rei grabbed onto his arm, pulling him back with a small pout and his best 'cute' face. The man started to shake his head and frown, but stopped suddenly, looking confused again. Then he grinned and Rei was the one to look a bit confused. The man said something quickly in Russian and Rei vaguely recognised it had something to do with money.

            "You want my money?" Rei asked, pointing to himself curiously. The man grinned and moved closer. Rei was pinned to the wall and looked around nervously. "Okay this got way out of hand pretty fast," he murmured quietly, still smiling at the man. But when the man trailed a hand up his arm Rei's eyes widened in shock. "Oh no."

            The sound of a younger sharp voice had both of them looking over towards the alley. Kai stood there, alone now. He said something to the man and he replied quickly. Kai's eyes widened fractionally then he smirked and stepped towards Rei, saying something else and sliding his arm around Rei's shoulders. Rei looked confused but said nothing. Kai was obviously getting him out of the hole he'd just dug himself in.

            The man said something but Kai shook his head gesturing something about Rei. Rei struggled to stay still as Kai ran his cold fingers over his cheek and down his neck, his arm still holding him tightly. Kai said something more and the man shook his head and walked off, leaving the two at the mouth of the alleyway.

            "What did you say?" Kai asked. Rei had the suspicion that he was struggling to hold in his laughter.

            "I pretended I was lost and asked for directions. Why? What did he think was going on?"

            "I just had to convince him that he couldn't afford you for ten minutes, much less an hour." Kai couldn't help it and chuckled, shaking his head at Rei. "An exotic beauty such as yourself is surely worth close to two thousand an hour." Kai ran his fingers down Rei's cheek again, letting them linger at the base of his neck before moving away with a smile, gesturing for the shocked Rei to follow him.

            Rei stared at him finally comprehending what had been going on and blushed furiously. He brought his hand up to touch the base of his neck as he caught up with Kai. "At least I distracted him."

            Kai laughed aloud at this. "That you certainly did. I haven't had such entertainment for a while."

            Rei glared at him. "Well keep it to yourself, no one hears of this ever."

            Kai nodded, smiling once more at Rei before getting serious again and leading them back to where they'd left the others.

            True to his word, Kai did not say anything, being the same person he always had been, and Rei wondered if Kai laughing had even actually happened. But every so often he would look at Kai to see him staring at him with amusement in his eyes.

            ~~

Rei shook himself awake ad groaned at the pain he felt. He looked around to see he was in that same room he'd been in when he woke up.

            Why was it so familiar?

            He winced as he heard echoes of screams of pain, denial and anger, looking away. He saw someone rush to his side at the movement and sedate him further just as the door opened to reveal a struggling teenager.

            "You bastards! LET GO OF ME!!"

            /Bryan?/ Rei frowned, his eyes slipping slowly closed. He didn't even have the strength to wonder why Bryan looked so stunned as he laid eyes on him.

            The last thing he heard before he blacked out was, "Rei! You let him go, he's got nothing to do with this! Rei!"

            ~~

Rei looked around curiously as he watched Kai bend down and address a small boy. As he looked up Rei's eyes widened and he heard the others' gasps of shock.

            It was the boy from before, the one Tyson had battled, Alexander.

            "Why are you here?" he asked fearfully. Rei winced and his heart wet out to the boy, but Kai motioned him back.

            "We're here to help you, to show you a safe place."

            Alexander didn't trust them. "Why?"

            "Because I can't stand by and watch Boris do this again," Kai said through clenched teeth. Rei shared a glance with his other teammates. Kai already knew Boris.

            "Who are you?" Alexander asked carefully as Kai helped him up.

            "Kai Hiwatari."

            The boy gasped and pulled away. "No, it's not true. You're supposed to be dead!"

            Kai snorted. "Is that what they're telling you? I escaped."

            "You destroyed the Abbey!"

            "What?" Kai whirled around to see his teammates staring at him. Tyson stuttered incomprehensibly before saying, "You've been to that place before and blew it up?"

            "I'll explain later, right now I want to get Alexander to a safe house."

            "How do you know it's safe?" Rei asked curiously, following Kai's lead through the streets of Moscow.

            "Because it's where I went when I escaped the Abbey before. All the runaways end up there eventually." Kai didn't say any more, he just quickened his pace, leading them to the outskirts of the town, to a house with a huge tree in front of it.

            "Go on," Kai pushed Alexander towards the house. "They'll help you, just tell them you're from the Abbey. They can help you find your family or find a new one."

            Alexander was hesitant, but he smiled. "Thank you."

            "Just go." Kai was staring at him sternly, but Rei noticed a slight softness around his eyes as he watched Alexander go to the house and get taken in immediately. For an instant, Rei saw a girl's face at the door, smiling at Kai, then she was gone.

            "You've got a lot of explaining to do," Tyson said as they walked back towards the town.

            "Later," Kai promised.

            "You'd better tell us or I'll—" Whatever Tyson was going to say was cut off as he was grabbed from behind by a darkly clad assailant. Rei whirled around then found himself caught also. The others were in similar positions. Max was being held off the ground, struggling to breathe while Kenny was on the ground, barely moving. Tyson kicked and elbowed his attacker, managing a few good hits before he was hit on the head and knocked out. Rei flipped the guy over his shoulder and was caught by another guy, who was ready for him, getting him in a bad position. The man on the floor grabbed his feet and Rei fel to the ground and was held down.

            Kai on the other hand had already knocked down three men and was moving in on a fourth when Rei inhaled sharply and called out, "Kai!" His captain whirled around and his eyes widened at the sight of the knife held to Rei's throat. He stopped moving and held up his hands.

            "I'll go quietly if you let them go," he told them coldly.

            "You're not in a position to negotiate." Wit that, there were suddenly weapons pointed at all the Bladebreakers and Kai hung his head.

            "Fine, what do you want?"

            "You young Kai and your friends."

            "Why them?"

            "For the same reason as before, just in case you don't cooperate." Rei was confused at this, but Kai seemed to understand. His eyes widened and he paled.

            "No," he whispered and looked away, a pained expression. "I'll come and I'll cooperate. Don't kill them." Rei watched Kai as he said this then was roughly bound, like the others. Kai refused to meet his gaze as they were lead back through the streets.

            It wasn't until they reached the Abbey that Kai finally turned and faced his team, who were all conscious again. "I'm sorry," he told them simply, but that was all they needed to hear. His voice was choked and his eyes glimmered with unshed tears. He looked away again in pain as they were lead into another room, the same room that Rei continued to wake up in.

            Each of them was strapped onto one of the metal tables and was approached by a guard with long sharp needles.

            "Don't worry," they said with a grin, "you won't remember a thing, just the feelings of betrayal when you find out that Kai has turned against you." Rei blacked out as he felt a sharp sting.

            ~~

Rei opened his eyes again, finally understanding everything about what happened the previous year, everything that had been hidden from them all. Kai didn't really betray them, he was forced to, perhaps it was the same when he was younger.

            He looked to the side and saw Bryan lying unconscious on one of the tables. He had to get away somehow. He struggled futilely at his bods and froze as he heard familiar mocking laughter.

            "You won't be able to escape, my little tiger, not now that you're back here." Rei turned and snarled at Boris, who merely grinned. "Welcome back to our facilities, I hope you'll enjoy your stay for I doubt you will ever leave again."

_AN: Oh, poor Rei, but hey, at least he's not dead. One positive to this I suppose. Hope you enjoyed. Laters._


	14. Preparations

**Chapter Thirteen — Preparations**

Spencer whirled around and pointed his gun at the trapdoor that suddenly opened.

            "It's us," Tala called out. Spencer raised the gun and moved to help them up. He frowned only seeing Tala and Kai.

            "Where's ..." he trailed off as he saw Tala's pained look and Kai's dark glare. He looked away and composed his own emotions. Time enough to mourn a comrade later. "What's the plan?"

            "We can go through the sewers to the end of the block," Kai told him. "We checked it out and we can get out into one of the streets there. Has anyone been able to make contact?"

            Spencer shook his head. "Not yet."

            "Damn, then we'll just have to do this ourselves, and quickly, they're bound to find a way down here soon." Kai gestured for the two of them to follow him out to where everyone else was located. They looked up curiously as Kai approached them.

            "Where's Bryan?" Takao asked with a frown.

            "Taken. We're getting out through the sewers. Everyone follow Tala's lead and stay close together. We're going out at the end of the block then heading out to the main areas of town. After that we'll head out to one of the BBA safe houses, if that's okay Mr. Dickinson." Kai looked at the old man curiously.

            "That's what they were made for young Kai."

            Kai nodded. "I'll be taking the rear guard, so everyone head out now."

            Tala gestured quietly and the group followed them. Kai made sure everyone had gone through before heading to the sewer access tunnel and locking the trapdoor behind him. He continued to stay quite a bit back from everyone so that he could be sure they hadn't been followed. He saw and heard no signs of pursuit as he continued on to the end of the sewer. He found the exit onto the street and quickly went up the rusted ladder and out. He put the cover back in place and swore, realising that he had no idea which way everyone went.

            "Kai."

            Kai turned around to see Spencer and Max waiting nearby. Max grinned at him while Spencer looked around nervously. "Come on, We're supposed to show you which way to go."

            "Right." They set out quickly, Kai and Spencer looking around while Max led them with directions given to him by Mr. Dickinson. All of a sudden though he let out a yell and fell to the ground.

            Kai barely had time to realise his team-mate had been shot before the whole street erupted with gunfire. Kai ran over to Max and tried to pull him away, but two dark-clad men got there first. One took hold of the wounded boy while the other fired a few shots at Kai. Kai dove to the side, watching in horror as Max struggled to get free.

            "Kai!" Max called out to him and Kai tried to get him again, but he was shot at a few more times, one of the bullets managing to slice his leg. Kai fell to the ground, watching helplessly as Max was taken further away.

            He looked around as he heard more gunfire to see Spencer struggling with three of the men. Kai looked between him and Max and tried to get to Spencer, but there were even more men coming towards him.

            "Run!" Spencer yelled at him, knowing it was futile for Kai to try and help. Kai nodded, glancing helplessly at the men once more before running from them, quite a few following in pursuit. He could no longer see Max or his assailants anywhere, but he had his own difficulties to deal with.

            Suddenly a few shots rang out as he turned down another street and Kai dashed to the side as he saw Tala in front of him. The men following him scattered and Tala grabbed his hand, pulling him along quickly, firing a few more shots behind him. They ran through a few streets, taking a few turns before they were satisfied that all pursuit had been outrun.

            Kai only had time for a few breaths before Tala was off again in another direction. Kai recognised a few of the streets now and realised they were close to the safe house. Finally they saw Ian standing out the front of the house watching the street nervously. As soon as they got in he locked the door behind them and took up a post near the window.

            Kai collapsed to his knees the instant he stopped moving, gasping for breath. It was too much, everything was just too much.

            "Where's Max?"

            Kai looked up at Takao who was staring at him worriedly. His distraught expression told the boy all he needed to know. Takao clasped his hand to his mouth and he ran out of the room. Everyone else looked horrified at all of this. Kai still hadn't gotten to his feet. He ran his fingers through his hair and tried to get a hold of himself, but his emotions were completely haywire.

            It was the sound of someone loading up a handgun that finally snapped him out of his stupor. Tala looked over at him. "Well? Aren't you going to help me prepare?"

            Kai glared. "Could you be any more insensitive Tala?" he snapped, getting to his feet. "Bryan ad Spencer have both been taken, along with Max, Rei could be dead and you don't seem to care!"

            "I'm caring the only way I know how," Tala retaliated with a cold voice. "I'm trying to plan a way to get them back and you want to sit here and sulk. You can do that once we're done. I can't do this alone, and I refuse to let you break another promise to me Kai." Tala shoved the loaded handgun at him. "You help me get them back. I think that's a more fitting way of caring for someone than to mourn them."

            Kai stared down at the gun pressed against his chest. He took it from Tala's hands and nodded.

            "Kai, just what is going on?" Lee asked. "What happened to Rei?"

            Kai swallowed, meeting Lee's confused gaze. "We overheard a conversation between the men at the training centre. It's possible that Rei might not be …" Kai looked away.

            "No!" Mariah gasped and everyone else looked horrified as well. Lee held onto the distraught girl while trying to get a hold of himself as well.

            "We can't deal with that right now," Tala said firmly in his softest voice. "I don't want any of you involved any further."

            "What about me?" Everyone looked over to see Takao standing in the doorway, looking determined, despite his slightly red-rimmed eyes. "I'm already involved in this, before I even knew what was going on I was involved, and now they have Max and Rei. Don't either of you dare tell me that I can't help out."

            "I was counting on your support actually Takao," Kai said before Tala could say anything.

            "Good. So, are we going to get a plan started, or just stand here all day?"

            Kai smirked at Takao's attitude. "Let's get to it."

*           *           *

Five of them were left in the room by the end of everything, the five who would be going in to get the others back: Kai, Tala, Ian, Takao and Kenny. The last would have been a surprise to most, but knowing how much the Bladebreakers meant to each other, Kenny's involvement in all of this was almost taken for granted.

            The spectacled boy in question was struggling to stay awake. It was quite late at night and all the others had retired already.

            Tala was still adamant about them not being involved, and Kai had to agree, with the other teams there would be too many people to keep track of and keep safe, not to mention there was no real use in them risking themselves. They weren't really involved.

            Mr. Dickinson had managed to contact the Majestics and the BBA office and there would be officials out there the next day to make sure everyone was safe, with the documents as well. Bryan and the others had risked their lives for those files to bring down Biovolt. Alex and Celia were to be taken to some place safe where they could recuperate and not fear Biovolt's wrath. Only the five of them in the living room wouldn't be there any more.

            Tala and Ian were currently standing by the window, talking softly while they stood watch. Kai looked over to see Kenny falling asleep over his laptop.

            "Kenny," he whispered, lightly touching the boy. Kenny started and looked at Kai curiously. "Get some sleep, we'll need you hearty for tomorrow night, okay." Kenny nodded and closed Dizzy up, moving to the couch and grabbing a blanket so he could sleep.

            Kai sighed, watching him. He really didn't want the boy risking himself, but he wasn't sure that Kenny would be safe with the others. Plus, he was just as determined as Takao to see that Max got back safely, as well as the others.

            Kai looked over at the other Bladebreaker. Takao was leaning against the wall, just staring at nothing, looking completely lost in thought. Unpleasant thoughts from the look of things. Kai moved over to him.

            "I'm not tired, so don't tell me to sleep, I've already tried."

            Kai nodded and instead sat down beside him. "You're really worried about Max."

            "I am, I have every reason to be."

            Kai sighed. "You do. For what it's worth Takao, I am sorry that all of this happened."

            Takao managed a slight smile. "It's not your fault you have an evil bastard of a grandfather who put you in a hellish situation when you were younger and turned you into an experiment for his plans for world domination."

            Kai chuckled. "I suppose not." They sat in silence for a while before Kai spoke again. "I'll get him back for you."

            Takao nodded, not daring to say anything lest he start to cry. "We'll get them both back," he said instead.

            Kai flinched, looking away sharply.

            Takao looked at him curiously then he sighed, in understanding. "You liked him, didn't you?" Kai just glanced at him and Takao sighed. "You can't give up Kai, you said it yourself before, they wouldn't risk killing him, and I doubt that Rei would give up without a fight."

            "I really want to believe that, but …" Kai couldn't say any more.

            Takao paused before saying, "I don't know if I should be saying this, but Rei liked you too." Kai jerked his head up and stared at him in amazement. "Just thought you'd like to know, maybe it will give you another perspective on everything."

            Kai nodded, a strange feeling blooming in his stomach.

            "We're going to get them back Takao, all of them."

            Takao just smiled at him and at seeing Kai's old determination to win coming back.


	15. Finding the Light

_Eep, been a while since I last updated this. Sorry about that. Hope you guys like this._

**Chapter Fourteen — Finding the Light**

"Here," came a whisper that barely travelled the three feet to the others nearby. Tala was gesturing to something in the bushes. "Do you think you could do something about the external alarms from here Kenny?"

            Kenny looked down at the small infrared alarm mechanism and frowned. "I'll try," he promised quietly. He took of one of the sides off and stared at the wires inside. He fiddled around for a moment in the mess of copper tangles, typing away on Dizzy momentarily before he grinned. "Done. It's actually quite an easy system; I would have thought Biovolt had better."

            "Wait until you get inside," Tala promised as he led the way over the tall spiked fence into the huge Abbey complex. He glanced around for the guards. "Wait here," he hissed. He dashed off around one of the buildings then came back. "It's all clear, we can get to the main building then we may encounter some guards before the monitoring station."

            "Right," Kai nodded. "You lead, I'll hold up the rear."

            Tala nodded and gestured for the others to follow him, Ian taking a lookout position while Takao and Kenny looked around nervously. Kai let them get a bit ahead before he trailed after them, his eyes peeled for any sort of movement. He had to stop however, a few corridors inside the complex.

            "There are some guards ahead," Kenny whispered to him. "Tala's trying to figure out a plan of attack."

            Kai marched up to Tala and whispered something firmly in his ear. Tala frowned at first then reluctantly nodded. He gestured for Ian to stay while he and Kai moved around the corner. There was a brief cry of surprise then silence. Tala appeared around the corner again and waved them ahead.

            "We'll need your help again," Tala murmured to Kenny as they moved into the small station with the screens for the cameras around the Abbey. Kenny's eyes widened (though no one could see that) as eh looked at the set-up for the Abbey's security system.

            "This thing is a mess!" he grabbed at his hair. "And it's so ancient, I thought you guys had money?"

            Tala glared at him. "I'm going to ignore the insinuation that I still have anything to do with Biovolt and tell you instead that this is the back up system and also a backdoor in to the main system."

            "I knew that," Kenny mumbled, blushing slightly as he opened up his laptop again. He typed on it for a moment before opening up the main panel and taking a look inside.

            "Hm, okay, I should be done in a few minutes. All alarm systems should be offline then, even the back-up ones, so you'll have free run of the place, not to mention we'll have a sudden 'blackout' due to generator problems."

            Tala nodded. "Good. Can you find out where the others are?"

            "Sure." Kenny hooked his laptop up to the mainframe and typed away, calling up a few cameras. "Okay, it looks like they're—"

            "Rei!"

            Everyone turned to stare at Kai in amazement before he turned and ran off.

            "Kai!" Tala called out uselessly after him. "Damn him!" he yelled, punching the wall in frustration. "He's going to get himself killed!"

            "Let him do this Tala," Takao said calmly "He needs to help Rei … whatever his situation."

            Tala glared at him then nodded. "Fine. Just where is Rei anyway?" He looked up at the camera where Kai had been staring and suddenly paled. Ian stared at him curiously, moving over to place a hand on his arm, but Tala jerked away from him so suddenly that it startled everyone. The redhead didn't seem to notice though.

            "Gods no," he prayed in a choked voice. "The Grey Room."

            Ian swallowed. "Tala, what's wrong?"

            Tala shook his head. "Rei's going to die, they're going to kill him, rip his mind to pieces and him along with it." His gaze broke from the screen and he clasped a hand to his mouth, heaving slightly.

            "Tala!" Ian called out frantically. "Hold it together, we have to get Spencer and Bryan out of here, and I can't do it alone!"

            "You won't have to," Takao said. "They're in room 3 of the detention area." Takao moved over to Tala. "Are you going to help or are you going to worry about something you don't have any control over right now."

            Tala stared up at him with wide eyes. "You don't know," he whispered harshly.

            "Does Kai?"

            Tala's eyes flashed slightly before they narrowed. "I'm not sure if he'll be able to deal with it alone."

            "Well he'll have to until we arrive to help him, along with Max, Spencer and Bryan." Takao shoved a gun towards him. "Are you going to lead us again, or not?"

            Tala snarled and grabbed the weapon. "Ian, keep in contact and keep a watch out. I'll need someone here to watch Kenny's back in case something comes up." Ian nodded. "I'll call if we need help."

            "But we won't," Takao assured them with a brash grin.

            Tala just shook his head at the boy and wiped at his still pale face before leading him cautiously out of the room and down the halls to the detention centre.

            "Do you think he'll be all right?" Kenny asked nervously.

            "I hope so," Ian murmured clutching his firearm close to him and taking his position by the door. Truthfully though, he'd never seen Tala break down like that, so he honestly couldn't say more than what he hoped. "I truly do hope so."

*           *           *

Tala tugged Takao back around the corner when the heard people approaching, talking quietly, though he could also hear the faint sounds of chains rattling and someone being pushed and prodded along cruelly.

            Tala risked a peek around the side and froze.

            "It's Bryan," he mouthed to Takao, whose eyes opened wider before he cautiously took a look around himself.

            Tala pointed to his chest then at the guards and Takao nodded when Tala gestured for him to sneak around them, taking them off guard. With Tala there, they wouldn't expect anyone else, especially not him. They moved forward quickly, Tala hesitating slightly so Takao could get into position before he fired at one of the guards.

            "Ah!" The man fell to his knees, bleeding profusely from his upper thigh. The other guards turned around, startled, their guns half-raised, but Tala was already moving again, shooting at them accurately, enough to wound and put them out of action.

            Takao made his way to the prisoner leaning heavily against the wall. Bryan looked as though he had seen better days, but Takao knew that the boy wouldn't have just given up without a fight. Only one guard stayed with him and his eyes were trained on Tala. He didn't notice as Takao came up and knocked him hard on the back of his head.

            Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to do more than stun the man for a few moments. Takao panicked slightly, but then remembered his training with his grandfather and lashed out at the man before he could make a sound or do anything. They were still struggling when Tala came along and knocked him out.

            "You untie him, I'll go get the others," Tala held up a set of keys. "Then head back to Ian and Kenny, I'll meet you there

            "Sure." Takao helped Bryan up and untied the tight bonds around him as Tala ran off quickly in the direction of the cells. Bryan was leaning heavily against him, barely conscious. Takao had to hold him up as they moved away, moving slowly both in caution and to make sure Bryan was all right. He looked really beaten up; Takao didn't think he'd seen anyone look this bad before.

            He paled thinking what the others looked like … what his Max looked like after the brutal treatment here.

            /I can't think of that right now, we just have to get them all out of here./

            Bryan stirred slightly against Takao's shoulder and he slowed, looking down at the Demolition Boy. But they couldn't stop now, they had to get back to Kenny and Ian. Takao struggled on with the other boy, continuing back to the other two.

*           *           *

Tala flicked through the ring of keys he'd filched from one of the unconscious guards until he found the right one. He slid it into the lock and opened the door carefully, trying not to make a sound.

            He was about to move into the room when movement caught his eye and he narrowly dodged a larger form lashing out at him.

            "Easy Spence," he called out.

            Spencer sighed in relief. "Tala, jeez, you could have warned me."

            Tala just shook his head at the other boy. "You should be ready for anything … even something good, like me." Tala smirked as Spencer chuckled then he looked over at the other figure, sitting, leaning against the far wall. "Max, come on, we're getting you out of here."

            Max stared at him in amazement then grinned. "Thank god," he breathed reverently as he ran out the door wit the other two, ignoring the pain in his arm.

            "We have to head back to the secondary monitoring station," Tala told them. Spencer nodded and Max just decided to keep following those two. "Kenny's got all the alarms turned off and Ian's with him … that kid is pretty useful to have around for something like this."

            "The Chief?" Max piped up. "Yeah, we owe him heaps for all he's done for us."

            "Bryan was taken away somewhere," Spencer told him. "He's gotten the worst of everything. When we were taken in, he refused to let them touch us, acting out so they'd keep their attention on him."

            "Yeah," Tala said distantly. "Bryan would do that. Explains why he was so bad when w found him."

            "Found him?" Max paled slightly.

            "Yeah." They came upon the corridor where Tala and Takao had parted. He grinned. "We 'found' him with these guys. Takao's taking him back to the others."

            Max's heart lifted when he heard that. Takao was here, he'd come to save him. He hardly noticed anything until they arrived back at the room with the others, then …

            "Max!"

            Takao suddenly had his arms around the boy, holding him close and practically cutting off his supply of oxygen. Max clung to him just as tight, tears springing suddenly to his eyes. He winced slightly as Takao leaned too hard against him.

            Takao moved back with a frown, his eyes widening when he saw Max's wound. "Max …"

            "It's nothing serious, I'm fine." Max's eyes were filled with joy as he looked at Tyson. "I knew you wouldn't leave me," he breathed, laughing with exhilaration, leaning against him.

            "You never had to doubt." Takao pulled back and grinned at him quickly before he kissed him gently. Max practically melted in his arms.

            Tala ran straight for Bryan as soon as they got in the room, checking him over and finding out how bad his wounds are.

            "So what's your diagnosis," Bryan's weak voice asked.

            Tala smirked down at the half-conscious boy. "You'll live."

            "That's nice. Not sure about Rei though."

            Tala froze and everyone glanced over at him.

            "Rei?" Kenny asked hesitantly. "What happened to him?"

            "He was taken straight to this room … I was only in there for a bit, but it looked like Rei had been there a few hours. I don't know what they did to him, they drugged me up and I woke up in the dungeon just before Spence and Max were taken in."

            Tala looked away.

            "I think it's time we found out what happens in that room Tala," Takao told him firmly.

            "I agree," Ian said seriously. "You had me so freaked by your reaction before."

            Tala glanced away. "Not now, we have to help Kai get Rei back, before it's too late."

            "I called Mr. Dickinson, everything's already set up," Kenny told him after a moment of very awkward silence. Everyone was still looking at Tala, who was avoiding everything and looking very pale.

            "Good. Let's go then." Yet Tala didn't move and neither did anyone else.

            "Tala …" Bryan started.

            "Don't!" he snarled at them, his blue eyes flashing dangerously. "Not now, when everything's over we'll tell you everything, but I can't lose my focus right now and neither can all of you."

            "That bad then?" Takao asked weakly.

            "Not as bad as Boris finding Kai," Spencer said, drawing everyone's attention back to the screens and the imminent disaster that awaited the blue-haired captain of the Bladebreakers.

_AN: … have I mentioned I like cliffhanger endings? ^_^_


	16. The Memory Remains

_Okay, I will agree that was an evil place to leave you all hanging like that, but I have an update with me right now, so I hope things shall be all right now._

_BTW: Yes, to any who care, I did take the title from the Metallica song ... so technically this is a disclaimer ... I guess ... I just borrowed the title, nothing bad I swear. (Metallica rules! ^_^)_

**Chapter Fifteen — The Memory Remains**

Kai crept slowly through the dark hallways, eyes peeled and ears twitching for any sight and sound. He was so alert he thought he could have felt someone approach just through the air. He would allow nothing to distract him from his objective here: Finding Rei and getting him out.

            He was amazed that security was lax enough here to allow him to get so close.

            That thought cause him to stop immediately.

            Why *was* security so lax?

            He glanced around, his nerves tingling at the tension he felt just being here. Things were not right, the atmosphere of the place was too dark and foreboding. Why were there no guards to come across now? He was getting closer to the rooms Boris needed to protect, so why didn't he have any trouble right now?

            He bit his lip, but the thought of Rei bound and gagged in the Grey Room spurred him forward again, more alert than ever.

            When he finally did reach the room he stopped. Now it was too much to take in. No guards whatsoever. Whenever he came here there were always two at the door and two at either ends of the hallways and their junction. That should be eight guards in the near vicinity right now.

            /It's a trap, it has to be./ Kai hesitated before the door, his hand reaching out to the handles unconsciously. But Rei was on the other side. He had to find him and get him out, he couldn't turn back now, trap or no. He couldn't let Rei down again, he couldn't bear to have the death of someone he loved on his shoulders.

            Kai pushed the doors open, weapons at the ready ...

            The room was empty, save for the figure lying on the table in the middle of the room.

            /IT'S A TRAP!!/ His mind continued to scream at him, they would never have left Rei alone in here in case he woke, but Kai didn't even seem to take notice of his thoughts, his every action guided by instinct and emotion. He ran to Rei's side.

            He was unconscious still, pale and bloodied. There was a drip in his arm. Kai knew that whatever was in the bag wasn't good for him. He ripped the tube from his arm and ripped away his restraints and the wires connecting him to various machines. He felt for a pulse and found a very faint one. His breathing was shallow and his skin felt rather cold.

            "Oh god," Kai breathed. "You can't die on me Rei, please no." He pulled Rei's body closer to him, tears forming and sliding slowly down his cheeks. "God no," he continued to plead helplessly. "Don't die, Rei."

            Looking down at the pale comatose form in his arms, Kai felt he had to do something to bring him back … he'd do anything to make sure Rei was all right.

            "Please Rei," he begged. "I love you, you can't die."

            "He may not be at risk right now, but you certainly are."

            Kai froze as he heard that cold voice. He paled as he felt the pressure of the gun barrel against the back of his head. Boris laughed at the pitiful sight the boy made, tearstains on his cheeks, emotions playing all overt his face … the boy was a complete wreak just ripe for the taking.

            "My, I wonder how your grandfather would react," Boris continued, gloating over how easily Kai had returned to him, "seeing you fallen so low as to admit your *love* for a common, untalented, worthless *boy*."

            Kai snarled, his anger returning in full force as Boris insulted Rei. Boris just smirked, chuckling at the reaction.

            "Don't like hearing the truth, do you Kai? Tell me then, how much is his life worth to you? To me, he was just an experiment, nothing more. Not even worth enough to bother training. Just another guinea-pig, like so many others. You remember them don't you? The ones who failed in their training. You never managed to spirit them all away to your safe house on the outskirts of town."

            Kai stiffened, his eyes wide with horror. "You did that to Celia's parents," he whispered.

            "Yes. I suppose you think I didn't know about that and admittedly, I didn't for a while, but you can't keep secrets like that forever Kai." He clicked off the safety to the gun, causing Kai to beak out in sweat. "You never did answer my question before," Boris mused thoughtfully, acting slightly bored. He leaned closer and whispered malevolently, "How much is his life worth to you?"

            Kai glanced very at him, his eyes like glazed fire. "I'd give my life for him," he answered truthfully, his voice ice.

            "Exactly what I was hoping you'd say." Boris noticed him tensing slightly and laughed. "Don't be a fool Kai. Do you really think that I would set such insufficient a trap for you? If you look around closely enough, you'll see three dozen guns all pointing at Rei's body. You attempt anything and his life is forfeit."

            Kai's shoulders slumped realising this. As he heard Boris' maniacal laughter echo around the room once more he clutched onto Rei's prone form tightly, bringing his lips close to Rei's ears.

            "I'm so sorry Rei," he whispered. "I have to do this for you, I don't want you to die. I love you."

            Was it his imagination, or was there a flicker of response on Rei's face? Kai's breath caught as Rei hesitantly opened one eye and struggled to whisper, " … love … you."

            A tear slipped down Kai's cheek and he quickly leaned in to kiss Rei, but was stopped as Boris grabbed him and ripped his arms away from Rei's body. Kai watched helplessly as he was shoved towards two guards with the order to restrain him tightly. Rei's eyes opened more and he glanced around in confusion and pain at the loss of Kai's warmth.

            "You know Kai," Boris murmured, still with that bored tone. "I do believe that this young man is a bad influence on you. Perhaps it would be best if I did kill him after all."

            "No!" Kai struggled to pull away from his guards as Boris raised his gun and pointed it at the helpless boy on the ground before him, laughing at Kai's futile struggles. "No! Rei!" Kai called out once more before a shot rang out, causing everything to freeze.

            As though in slow motion, Boris clutched at his side and collapsed to his knees, his gun falling from his fingers. He looked around and his eyes widened as he saw who shot him.

            "Tala," he whispered, his dark eyes accusing. "Kill him," he ordered to the guards.

            "I would not advise that," Tala told them firmly as they raised their guns, aiming for the former Biovolt blader. "This room is surrounded by official members of the BBA terrorist squads specially trained to deal with situations like this. Should you raise a weapon against any of us, you will be shot and most likely killed. Now kindly lower your weapons and put your hands in the air where we can see them. Any who protest, I will deal with personally." His last sentence was said so coldly that many guards shivered visibly. There was no hesitation for any of them. Not even Boris, who had fallen to the floor in defeat during Tala's speech.

            Now released from his captors, Kai rushed to Rei's side again, not caring about anyone around them as he grabbed hold of his teammate tightly again and smiled in relief at his safety.

            "Thank god you're safe," he whispered in Rei's ear.

            "Yeah," Rei replied, still dazed and shocked by everything that was happening.

            "I thought …" Kai cleared his throat, feeling himself getting emotional over everything. "I'd thought you were gone. I couldn't bear it if I lost you Rei." He buried his face in Rei's shoulder.

            Rei reached his arm up to rest against Kai's, drawing the teary crimson gaze back to his glazed golden one.

            "Would you really have given yourself for me again?" he asked quietly.

            Kai nodded. "Without hesitation."

            "Same here," Rei whispered, falling against Kai's chest and closing his eyes again. "Can I sleep properly now?" he murmured, his voice already thick and muffled.

            Kai nodded. "Of course." He picked Rei up, glad that the boy was so light and held him close as he headed towards the exit of the room. He was so happy that Rei was all right and nothing seemed wrong with him. He felt he was almost about to burst just knowing that Rei could remember who he was. Being here, in the Grey Room, he wasn't sure what had happened to him.

            Tala smiled warmly at the two of them as he passed. "We can take things from here," he assured Kai who looked a bit hesitant to leave, but also reluctant to stay. He wanted to be with Rei.

            Kai sighed in relief. "Thank you Tala."

            Tala shrugged away the thanks. "Just take care of him, all right?" Kai nodded, leaving Tala  to take care of rounding up the last of the escapees from the first Biovolt arrest.

            Everything with them was finally over with, they would all be able to go on with their lives properly, the dark threat hanging over their heads gone.

_AN: Well, that's the second last chapter to this fic. Next chapter is actually an epilogue and will be the final part to this. I'm not planning on writing a sequel … I've run out of ideas … and really where would it go?_

_Anyway, hope you all enjoyed that chapter._

_Until next time,_

_Laters_


	17. Epilogue

Well, here it is the final installment to my very first ever Beyblade fic … gosh it took me a while to finish this ^^; Hope you guys enjoyed and thanks for reading and sticking with me with this.

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**Epilogue**

Kai glanced around with a relived sigh. Things were finally over with. Boris and his Grandfather were jailed and the rest of Biovolt was falling apart with ease. The newer 'recruits' Boris had been training were found and returned to families or put under care, Alex and Celia included. Others whose lives Biovolt had destroyed were taken care of without fear of retaliation. It was quite amazing how fast the BBA was working to set things right.

            The sun was setting over the white expanse of mountaintops and Kai sighed at the sight, feeling quite exhausted. He and the Demolition Boys had all played their parts for two days straight to bring everything together and only now did they find themselves with some time to rest.

            "I just saw Ian and Spencer off." Kai looked to the side to see Tala taking a seat beside him on the broken wall of the Abbey. "It took a long time and quite a few officials to get them to believe the story and our assurances that nothing of this severity would happen again."

            "And what will the two of you do?" Kai asked quietly, referring to Bryan as well, who was in the hospital, rejuvenating from his attack in the Abbey.

            Tala shrugged. "Wait and see I guess. Mr. Dickinson still has a lot of work for us and I've volunteered for the job. I refused to let Ian and Spence help out, they've still got too much to deal with right now, setting things right with their families. Bryan will probably join me once he's well enough. I'm actually not starting until he is. I want to make sure nothing happens."

            "Still looking out for others then," Kai commented with a smirk.

            "As usual." Tala looked at him sideways. "Like you," he added softly, knowing Kai heard.

            "Maybe."

            They sat for a while, watching the night settle in and reveling in the silence and peace surrounding them for the moment.

            "How's Max?" Tala asked finally.

            "Better. Takao's still being an overprotective pain, which I think Max doesn't really mind. It shows how much he cares at least."

            "What about the other teams? How are they dealing with things?"

            "Better than expected. The Majestics seem fine with everything, they're helping out with the BBA after all. The All-Stars and White Tigers are not as accepting of the situation, but they're dealing well. They'll all be leaving within the next few days."

            "Right."

            There was another long silence.

            "And you?" Tala finally asked, his voice quiet and hesitant.

            "You actually care what I feel?" Kai retorted, though his voice was not as cold as it would have been over a year ago. He had changed quite a bit and the situation now had changed him further.

            Tala looked away. "I'm sorry for how I acted before. But when you're mind is as messed up as mine … well, what else was I supposed to think for all those years?"

            Kai shrugged. "I never blamed you for thinking so badly of me. Hell, I thought badly about myself as well." Tala chuckled at the slight joke, knowing that this was Kai's way of making everything right again. They settled into a more comfortable silence before Kai broke it again, asking, "Do you ever think we could possibly … get along sometime in the near future?"

            Tala looked at him seriously. "I don't know, he replied honestly. "There's bad blood there, but maybe sometime things will be better." He got up then and started to walk away. "For now," he called out, "I think you'd best work on the relationships you already have. There's someone who needs you more than I do right now."

            Kai watched his old friend walk away wistfully. /Guess it was too much to hope for right away. But things are better now, which is more than I should have hoped for./

            Kai got up himself and headed back to his hotel, determined to get some rest and to check up on the person who needed him the most right now.

*           *           *

It was completely dark and cold by the time he arrived back at the hotel room he was sharing with Rei. The lights were out and the curtain drawn. Kai walked slowly toward the bed, thinking Rei asleep already. However, as he sat on the edge of the bed to remove his sweater, he heard the rustling of sheets behind him and turned to see Rei glancing up through lidded eyes.

            "You're back," he mumbled sleepily, leaning back down again.

            "Yeah." Kai decided not to resist the temptation to smile and was glad when he saw Rei's eyes light up at the action. "Feeling better?" he inquired, running his fingers through Rei's long fringe momentarily.

            "A bit." Rei closed his eyes and leaned into the touch sleepily. "I can remember a lot more though. They really messed with our minds back then." He shuddered slightly and Kai moved closer, letting him lean against his side.

            "I know. I'm just glad nothing worse happened. Some of the subjects went insane and a few others died from the treatments Boris and the scientists thought up." Kai unconsciously moved closer. "When I saw you there," he whispered, "I'd thought the worst. I didn't care that it could be a trap, I just needed to make sure you were safe."

            "Thanks," Rei murmured. "I'm glad you came."

            "We all thought you were dead." Kai gently traced the bandages around Rei's chest and shoulder. "I couldn't function for a while there, but Tala pulled me out." Rei stiffened slightly, but Kai ignored it. "He's such a pain in the ass," he growled. "No wonder I didn't like him for so long, he's too much like me."

            "A pain in the ass you mean?" Rei asked, teasing him. He was a bit relieved that there obviously wasn't something between Tala and Kai, but then, it seemed stupid now after what Kai said to him two days ago …"Hey Kai?"

            "Yeah?"

            Rei looked up and the question he was about to ask died on his lips as he saw how tenderly Kai was watching him. He smiled and shook his head. "Nothing, don't worry."

            Kai frowned but nodded, then he tried to stifle a yawn.

            "That boring am I?" Rei asked mildly.

            "Hardly. Even I have my limits you know. Two days straight with hardly any sleep would affect anyone."

            "So Kai's not as perfect as he seems. Still, I guess that's why I like you so much, imperfections and all."

            Kai looked down at Rei with a smile. "You look as tired as I am. We should get some sleep."

            "Sure." Rei moved away so Kai could get into bed properly. Kai stripped off his sweater and socks and slid in beside Rei, moving closer to his warmth as he did so. "Goodnight Kai," Rei whispered softly as he leaned back into the pillows and closed his eyes.

            In response though, he felt the fleeting touch of Kai's lips on his. Opening his eyes in shock, he saw Kai leaning over him with a faint smile on his face. "Goodnight Rei," he replied softly, leaning back himself.

            Rei smiled at him and wrapped his arms around Kai, snuggling in closer and making himself quite comfortable with his bedmate. It was much easier and far more relaxing to sleep this way, safe in the embrace of a loved one and safe in the knowledge that everything tomorrow would look even brighter than it ever had. Not everything was perfect, but it would get better, like all wounds and people. It was a start.

AN: Yay! The end *throws various celebratory things* I'm so happy I could cry ;_; … see?

_Once again, I wish to thank every single person who read this, it really means a lot to me that you enjoyed reading my work and a very big thank you to those who managed to inspire me enough to get off my lazy butt and finish writing this (aka everyone who reviewed … luv you all! I managed 100+ which is so cool thanks) I don't really do thank you lists, but I want you all to know that you all helped me so much with this, keeping me motivated and on track._

_Thank you all once again and I hoped you enjoyed Cage of Thought_

Laters.


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